The Half-Blood Saber
by The Dark Warden
Summary: The Daughter of Poseidon lost everything. And unlike so many others, she had no one to look after her and help her. Now, she's stepping into the light, stronger than anyone ever thought possible. She will fight to achieve her dream, damn the Gods and their twisted games. Look out Olympus, The Half-Blood Saber is here to play! Fem-Percy. Review please, and have a nice day!
1. AN:

_**Okay, so before we get started, i just want to thank those who actually opened this up. I couldn't get this idea out of my head, so here it is.**_

 _ **To clear up a few things:**_

 _ **Main Character looks like Mordred with black hair, and tanned skin, like Percy is supposed to have. Sounds like Mordred does in Fate Apocrypha dub. Just less of an arrogant ass hat.**_

 _ **Has Shirou Emiya's powers only a bit stronger. Does have Unlimited Blade Works, if you have a problem with that, i'm sorry.**_

 _ **To those who are confused with why the fight scenes are all over the place, let me explain. Demigods are still technically mortal, so Saber will have a massively easier time fighting them. Monsters on the other hand are way stronger than demigods, with Gods being even more powerful, so if you get confused with bits and pieces here and there during the fights, thats why the fights seem to be a little confusing with the power levels.**_

 _ **Yes, characters from the Fate Series will be popping up, either by just being mentioned or actually showing up to either cause trouble or help out, all depends on the characters.**_

 _ **If you have problems with the way i write the story, please be polite while you review. And DON'T tell me how to write my story. If you don't like it, don't read it.**_

 _ **That being said, i welcome constructive criticism and folks helping me push the story along. Don't review just so you can put things like "Ugh you F***ing suck at writing! Just give up!"**_

 _ **I realize that i'm not the best at writing but i'm learning. Don't be rude and don't try and control how my story goes. Also if you're going to review, please sign in first. It's super easy and it lets me actually talk to my readers rather than having to read Guest reviews and not be able to replay in order to swap ideas or correct mistakes.**_

 _ **OK, now that all that is out of the way, Hope you enjoy!**_


	2. Prologue: Loss

_**Prologue: Loss**_

It had finally happened. After six years of never stopping, never truly living, the day had come. Seraphina Jackson was only three months old when the first monsters came looking for the Daughter of Poseidon. Hellhounds and Dracaenas cut down the door. Her mother had gathered her up, the baby girl wrapped up in her sea green blanket, and run, setting off the protections the Earth-Shaker had left for his mortal love and Demi-God daughter.

Age two. Here comes the Hydra. Seraphina killed it with a wave of her pudgy little hands, the water from her bathtub rising, forming spikes and skewering all five heads at once. Her mother had walked in to see the monster turn to golden dust. They had moved the next day, heading south. It hadn't been a week since they had moved into the small apartment.

Age four. A young Drakon tears its way through her pre-school, killing the teachers and injuring several students. This time, the beast was pinned to the floor by an army's worth of bronze blades. They had appeared out of thin air. Again, she and her mother, Sally, are gone the next day. No one ever saw them leave town.

Age five. An empusa tries to devour her in the super-market. It doesn't get within five meters before the ice in the freezers melts and lashes out, cutting the demon to dust. They were in Florida, at the very edge of her father's domain. Sally had railed at the ocean for hours into the night before they hit the road again.

And today, the monsters had found them again. Her mother was running, carrying her little girl through darkened streets of LA. The monsters had cut the power to the city. It was chaos. Sera watched with wide eyes as Harpies, Hellhounds, Drakons and Chimera tore through civilians with impunity. She didn't understand what was going on at the time, she'd just woken up from her nap. All she was aware of was that her mommy was scared, the scary things were chasing them and she was very tired.

His mother was breathing hard, she'd been running for over half an hour already, but the monsters were only getting closer. She hid behind a dumpster and held her daughter tight. _If we could get to a working car_ , she thought desperately, _we can get out of here before they catch us…catch her._ Sally turned her head to her daughter, the six-year-old's sea-green eyes looking around curiously. She never cried, it often seemed as though nothing phased the poor girl. She should've sent her to Camp Half-Blood sooner, she would've been safer. But she hadn't wanted to be separated from her baby girl. She knew what would happen sooner or later. She accepted it. All she cared about was her daughter's survival. The hiss of the Drakon drew her from her thoughts and she bolted, as quickly and quietly as she could.

She ran. She pushed her tired body as hard as she could, running as fast as she could and she could still hear the monsters getting closer and closer, each of her steps ten for the quadruped monsters. She silently prayed to Poseidon, begging him for help, to save their daughter. If he heard her, he never answered. She only had a growl for warning before a massive paw struck her side, sending the woman flying though a shop window. Luckily, she had managed to turn her body so that Sera was protected. Sally gingerly pushed herself up, clutching her daughter to her chest as she looked out the shattered window. What she saw stopped her heart. A Nemean Lion had decided to join the hunt. The size of a tank with a golden pelt and mane, massive fangs shimmering in the night as it growled at her. The shop window wasn't very big, but it wouldn't hold the beast back more than a few moments. She didn't hesitate and bolted to the right, her tired body screaming in protest as she evaded the Lion's paw. She rolled and slid to a stop, pushing herself to her feet and moving toward the back of the candy shop. She had meant to open one when they finally settled down. It seemed she would no longer get the chance.

Sera began to whimper, the gravity of the situation finally began to sink in. She knew they were in terrible danger, and her power reacted to that danger. The Lion burst through the front of the shop, only to be back-handed back out to the street by a massive spout of water from below. Light shimmered overhead and countless blades rained down from above, skewering countless monsters. The swords, daggers and spears clattered off the monster's hide, doing nothing more than angering it. She prayed again, this time not to her former godly lover, but to her ancestors. Her mother had told her the stories of their lineage. She could only hope that the stories were true.

She didn't ask for her life, but for her daughter's. She asked for the innocent child in her arms to be spared, for her to have the strength to live the way she chose to. Not as a plaything for Fate, or as a pawn for the gods. She prayed for her to choose her path, whether that path be Hero or just as a normal girl. It didn't matter to her, so long as she had that choice. Unlike when she prayed to Poseidon, she felt something. A warmth in her heart, something that made her feel safe for a split second, and she smiled. _Thank you,_ she whispered in her mind. Thank you for giving her this chance. She saw a car up ahead, what kind she didn't know, all she knew was it looked very fast. However, it seemed as though she wouldn't make it. Behind her she heard the rumbling growl of the Lion and knew what was about to happen. She didn't hesitate.

With a great heave, she threw her daughter as far away from her as possible and turned to face the Lion. The last thing she saw was the razor claws and gaping maw coming at her. She smiled. Be strong, Seraphina. The world went black.

* * *

Six-year-old Sera hit the ground hard, rolling until she hit the back tire of the sleek red car. She pushed herself onto her hands and knees and looked back toward her mommy just in time for sticky red liquid to cover her face. Her mother hit the ground a few feet from her, four long tears in her blue blouse, which was quickly turning purple as more red liquid soaked into it.

Ignoring the giant golden kitty, she toddled over to her mommy and crouched down next to her.

"Mommy," she whimpered as she shook her mother's shoulder. "Mommy, wake up."

Her mother didn't move. She couldn't even tell if she was breathing. The little girl's heart stopped in her chest. The red stuff was leaking from the corner of her mother's mouth and her mommy's pretty blue eyes were dull and empty. The little girl whimpered again and shook her mommy harder, hoping she'd get up and they could keep running. Her mommy didn't even twitch. Tears begin to drop from little Sera's face as she realized what had happened. She was shocked back to reality by the bone-shaking growl of the gold kitty. Her sea-green eyes snapped up, sorrow gone, replaced by rage. A rage so powerful that even the tank-sized Lion paused. All the other monsters could feel the power now pouring off the toddler. They turned tail and bolted, leaving the Lion to growl menacingly at the little girl as red light swirled around her.

Crack. The earth beneath Sera's feet shattered like class, crimson energy hissing and spitting as it lashed out. The world seemed to stop and the girl felt a warm presence, like a pair of hands on her shoulders. She looked up and saw two women smiling down at her. They looked the same. Same blonde hair, same face, same green eyes. _Like my eyes…_ Sera thought in wonder. The woman on her left was elegant, dressed in silver armor with blue markings over light blue breeches. Her blonde hair was pulled into a neat bun. In her free hand was a two-handed longsword with a gleaming gold blade, blue markings running up and down the blade. The woman's smile was warm and compassionate. _Like mommy's…_

The woman on her right had the same face as the one on her left, but with distinct differences. Her messy blonde hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, with her bangs framing her sea-green eyes. The woman was clad in bulky silver armor that looked almost draconian (whatever that meant. She'd heard mommy say it a few times when the lizard things were around so…), crimson markings covering the breast-plate, shoulders, legs and arms. In the woman's cruel looking gauntlet was a two-handed longsword of shimmering silver with the same red markings from her armor emblazoned on the blade. The woman had a cocky smile on her face, but not an unkind one. It made the little girl feel like she'd just surpassed something and the woman was proud of her. She liked making people proud.

As one, the little girl and the two phantom women looked to the now hesitant golden Lion. The crimson light ran down to Sera's right hand as blue light ran down to her left. She let the women guide her as she focused on something she could use to make the bad monster go away. She stared in awe as the women's blades blazed into existence in her tiny hands. They didn't feel heavy to her, but she could feel the power running through the silver and gold swords. It made her wince a little bit, but the reassuring hands on her shoulder helped her stand strong. She crossed the blades in front of and focused. She pushed her drive to protect her mommy and desire to make the monster go away into the golden sword, the blade filling with golden light. Her rage at what the monsters had done over the years, forcing them to run, killing innocent people…hurting mommy. All that anger and hate flowed into the silver sword, the blade filling with harsh crimson light. The power from both blades merged and Sera could feel the power building. She heard the women whispering to her, telling her to wait until the right moment. She listened and let the power build up, coursing through her and the swords. The Lion stopped waited and leapt at her. _Now!_ Cried both women. As one, the three of them screamed and Sera unleashed the power as she stuck at the Lion. Thunder cracked across the sky and red-gold energy washed over the land. On the other side of the country, a certain Centaur looked to the west as the energy washed over the camp. He frowned, wondering at the cause of such a blast. Without knowing why, a wave of sorrow washed over him.

Back in LA, the little girl now stood in a silent city as the two swords dropped from her hands and vanished, no more monsters, no more people. Just her and her mother's body. She looked to the phantasmal women and saw them standing side by side with warm but sad smiles on their beautiful faces. The one in silver-red armor gave her a wide grin and a thumbs up, while the woman in silver-blue armor rolled her eyes at the other's antics and gave a deep bow toward the little girl. Sera blinked and bowed in return, causing the woman's sad smile to brighten ever so slightly. The two turned, the one in silver-blue armor putting her arm over the one in silver-red armor's shoulder, causing the woman to stiffen and look to the other woman in surprise before grinning widely and throwing her own arm over Silver-Blue's shoulder. Sera giggled at the sight. The two women looked over their shoulders and gave a single nod, before they walked off together, fading into blue stars that dispersed and vanished. Little Sera looked around at the ruined city before her eyes fell on the still body of her mommy. Tears pricked her eyes and she sunk to her knees with a sob. She was alone.


	3. Chapter 1: Saber Kills the Math Teacher

_**Chapter One: Saber kills the Math Teacher**_

Saber groaned in exasperation. Child Services had finally caught up with her after seven years on her own. The girl had beaten several of the officers black and blue before they managed to pin her in the warehouse where she'd been staying while she took care of her business. Now she was being forced to go to Yancy Academy, some private school for troubled youths in upstate New York. She hated New York. Too close to Olympus for her liking. But at least there was usually plenty of monsters to kill. Sure, she could've fought back hard enough to get loose and make a runner, but she had decided to go along with it, thinking she might actually enjoy school.

At thirteen years of age, she looked as though she were fifteen. Her shaggy black hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, not unlike the Silver-Red armored woman's hairstyle from LA. Nowadays she wore dark blue jeans over black combat boots with a black jacket over a red tank-top, with an angular w-like symbol in black high on the chest. Hell, she didn't even use her birth name anymore, instead going by 'Saber' most days when dealing with monsters or mortal bounties. Thirteen years old and the best damn bounty hunter in the USA. Most of the students assumed she was Goth. She wasn't, but she let them have their delusions. Better than them knowing she hunted monsters every day. Yeah, that'll go over well.

It wasn't all bad, she knew that. Ever since LA, she'd been on her own. No real education, just enough to get by pretty well. Most of the teachers were alright, though she had an itching feeling her Latin teacher Mr. Brunner was a mythical creature or Mythos, as she called them. The man was just too odd not to be. She loved his class, but it was the truth. The Mist seemed to curl around him in ways she hadn't seen very often. That and he had a collection of Roman and Greek armor and weapons he used for what he called Tournament Day, weapons that were very much real and had a real enough history for her to store in what she had come to call her Unlimited Blade Works.

Not that she cared. She had long since learned that not all the creatures hidden by the Mist were monsters wanting to kill her. Hell, one of her closest friends was a Dryad. That was the other good thing about being in New York, she could visit Kalie whenever she wanted. Most of the time. Her dorm mate, a scraggly kid called Grover Underwood with some kind of muscular disease in his legs, had a bad habit of sticking to her like glue. She didn't really blame him. He was a skinny, sick kid that everyone liked picking on. When she had arrived, she hadn't been able to help her Hero instinct and had sucker punched a girl named Nancy Bobofit into a wall to get her to leave him alone. Of course, she had had to hold back to keep from killing the bully of a girl. They been kinda-sorta friends ever since.

After about six months of attendance at YA, she was kind of liking the semi-normal life she currently had. Going to school and protecting Grover during the day, hunting and killing monsters during the night, while visiting Kalie on the side. A pretty good life. Most monsters went out of their ways to avoid her, and the more intelligent ones made deals with her. Information on the nasty monsters and good behavior to guarantee their safety. So, no Big Bads as she called them breaking into her school to attack her. Much better than when she was a toddler. She was kind of worried that it had made her weak. She hadn't dealt with any big-time monsters since then, so she was a bit worried about what would happen if one showed up.

Today, they were heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. Considering the history of the weapons she had stored up, she would do just fine if she decided to speak up. Anyways, they were on the bus about twenty blocks from the Museum and Nancy was testing her patience. Most of the kids had long since learned not to mess with Sera Jackson's friend. Not Nancy. The girl had no survival instincts at all. Even after Saber punching the girl in the face hard enough to send her flying a good ten meters and breaking the girl's nose, the freckly, redheaded Kleptomaniac girl was currently throwing peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich at Grover's head. Saber was currently gritting her teeth, her right eye twitching as she restrained herself from strangling the annoying girl. Everyone on the bus but Nancy noticed Saber's anger and was not so subtly scooting as far away as they could from the monster of a girl.

The girl was apparently under the impression that Saber wouldn't do anything since she was on probation. The headmaster or principle or whatever the prick was called had threaten her with death by ISS if she put so much as one toe out of line. After facing down armies of mythical monsters and Roman demigods in California, ISS was at the very bottom of her worry list.

"I'm going to kill her," Saber growled as yet another piece of sandwich hit Grover in the head.

"It's alright," Grover said as he tried to calm his rather violent friend. "I like peanut butter."

He ducked as another piece flew by his head.

"That's it," Saber started to get up, but Grover pulled her back down.

"You're still on probation," he reminded her, earning a scoff from the girl-warrior. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."

"Like I give a damn about getting ISS," she snapped, causing most of the bus to flinch at the ice and steel in her tone. "I'm about to knock her right out the back of the bus." She moved to get up again, only for Grover to pull her back down. The skinny boy was deceptively strong.

"You may not but I do," he said with conviction in his voice, so much that it actually shocked Saber. Grover almost never acted like that, he was a coward. Not to speak ill of him, but he really was. She grumbled as she crossed her arms across her chest, blocking out everything for the rest of the ride.

Before long, they reached the Museum and Saber helped Grover clean his curly brown hair of peanut butter-ketchup sandwich, glaring at Bobofit as she walked passed laughing. _One of these days I'm going to show why you don't mess with my friends,_ she grumbled in her mind. Once Grover's hair was clear of food, they followed the group in, ending up at the Greco-Roman section of the museum, Mr. Brunner at the front of the group. Like the Red Sea, the group parted to let Saber and Grover through. Despite what she'd been through over the years, it still blew her mind at how artifacts like the pots, marble statues and murals survived after two-three thousand years.

Mr. Brunner gathered the class around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a sphinx on top, and started explaining about how it was a grave marker for a girl about their age. At 'grave marker', a memory slipped uninvited to the front of her mind.

 _Sobbing as she placed the stone cross on Mommy's grave. In ragged writing, the words carved in stone read: Sally Jackson, Mother and hero. The best person in the whole wide world. 'If you help someone, you help everyone.' Sobbing as she slipped her mother's locket over her head. Making the promise to make sure no one ever suffered like she did ever again. Her wish to force the monsters back into the pit from whence they came for the rest of eternity._

She shook her head to clear it as her hand rose to touch the locket resting against her chest under her tank-top. She tried listening, but most of the kids were running their mouths, which only increased her bad mood. She continuously told them to shut up, but it seemed as though the class had temporarily taken on Nancy's non-existent survival instinct. Every time she hissed for them to be quiet, the other chaperone, Mrs. Dodds would give her the evil eye.

That one, Saber was one hundred percent sure was some form of monster straight out of the Underworld. The woman had shown up half-way through the year after Saber and Nancy had given the last teacher a nervous breakdown. The twig of a woman claimed to have come from Georgia, but Saber had never heard of a Math teacher that wore biker-grade leather jackets. Like Mr. Brunner, the Mist swirled around the woman, but not in the smooth, warm way the Latin teacher did. The Mist around Mrs. Dodds felt wrong, almost as though the magical veil was in pain. The woman had walked in one day and decided that Nancy was an angel and Saber was devil spawn. While Saber took offense at that, she knew she wasn't the best thirteen-year-old around. Anytime Saber got into any kind of trouble, no matter how small, Mrs. Dodds would point a finger at her and say in a sickeningly sweet voice "Now Honey," and boom. Detention after-school for a month. Once she had dropped a hint to Grover that she was sure Dodds wasn't human and he had blinked and said ever so calmly that she was absolutely right. She had figured he was being an average student hating a pain in the ass teacher.

Anyways, Mr. Brunner was discussing Greek funeral art when Nancy snickered at the naked guy on the stele. Saber didn't hesitate. She snapped around. "Will you please just shut up!?" she snarled, causing several other students to back up fast.

Mr. Brunner stopped his story. "Ms. Jackson, do you have a comment."

Saber winced at her name. She hated people calling her that. Sure, it was her mom's name, but all it did for her was remind her of that night. She shook her head. "No, sir. Just telling Nancy here to shut up so that those of us who actually find this interesting could hear what was being said." Nancy paled as Saber called her out, going nearly bone-white when Mr. Brunner pinned her with his gaze.

"Is that so?" he mused before looking to Saber. "Well, perhaps you could explain to Ms. Bobofit what this picture explains, since she seems to be quite distracted."

Saber looked to the stele and smirked. She knew that one. She'd read up on it a few times after she had found out where those monsters that had always been hunting her had come from. She nodded to Mr. Brunner. "No problem sir. That's the Titan Kronos eating his children, the Gods of Olympus."

Mr. Brunner nodded before motioning with his hand. "Yes. And he devoured his children because…"

Saber continued. "He ate them because he was the King of the Titans, but he had killed his own father Ouranos to get there. He was afraid that his kids would rise up and do the same to him, so he ate them to keep that from happening. But his wife hid Zeus, the youngest, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. After Zeus was full grown, he tricked Kronos into drinking some kind of mustard-wine or something to get him to throw up his children. Hera, Hestia, Poseidon and Hades all came out and they teamed up to beat Kronos and the rest of the Titans." She finished, smirking at a very red Nancy, since the girl obviously didn't know that. "After they beat the Titans they split up the territory. Hades got the Underworld, Poseidon got the Ocean, Zeus got the Sky with Hera and Hestia got the Hearth."

Mr. Brunner nodded as Nancy mumble to a friend behind Saber. "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to ask on our resume, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his Kids.'"

"And why, Ms. Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

Grover snickered as Nancy reddened again at being caught. Saber thought carefully. She hadn't really thought that much about it before. She shrugged. "I don't know sir. Maybe it's supposed to be a lesson about paranoia?"

Mr. Brunner looked a bit disappointed. "I see. Well, half credit, Ms. Jackson."

Mr. Brunner went on to explain that yes, Zeus had given Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine to free the other gods from the Titan's stomach. How they proceeded to defeat their father and the other Titans, trapping them in various prisons while cutting Kronos himself up into a thousand pieces with his own scythe and scattered his remains throughout the Pit of Tartarus. They then proceeded to head outside for lunch. One thing that Saber had made sure to do while she was on her own was learn how to cook. Once she'd taken on bounty hunting for both Mortals and the Roman demigods after they worked out that fiasco with the pack of Hellhounds, she had made sure to keep plenty of food stuffs stocked wherever she stayed. She'd packed such a lunch for herself and Grover. Hand-cooked General Tsao's chicken and Lou Mien for her and a mega cheese burrito for Grover, all made from scratch. She prided herself in her cooking almost as much as she prided herself for her combat skill.

However, as she handed Grover his food, Mr. Brunner called her. She cursed under her breath. All she wanted to do was get through eat her food and the field trip. But it seemed like everyone wanted to test her. She walked over to stand beside Mr. Brunner's wheelchair. She refused to look him in the eyes.

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner said.

"About the Titans?"

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh, joy. Yeah I'll get right on that once I'm out of here." She snapped. Mr. Brunner frowned at her.

"What you learn from me," he said, "is very important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Sera Jackson"

Saber couldn't stop herself from snarling. The man was aware of the official story of what had happened in LA. He knew she had been on her own since then and hadn't gotten a proper education. Not to mention her ADHD and aggravating dyslexia. But nope, he kept poking and prodding her, expecting her to do as good or better than the normal kids.

"No offense sir," she said with steely eyes. "I don't see how learning why a Titan ate his kids is going to help me in the long run. It's not important. Interesting, yes. But not important." She didn't wait for him to respond and spun on her heel, heading for the fountain at the bottom of the stairs where Grover was sitting with his burrito. She sat down next to her friend and opened her food pack, grabbing her chopsticks and chowing down as she let to sensation of the water behind her wash over her, soothing her nerves and letting her drift away in the river of her thoughts. As much as she hated Poseidon, she loved her connection to water, how free it made her feel.

Overhead, a massive storm was brewing, with clouds darker than she'd seen in a long time. Nobody else seemed to notice, so she figured it was Zeus throwing a fit over something again. _That guy should've been the God of Drama rather than Thunder._ She snorted to herself in her food at the idea of Zeus on Broadway. He would've been pretty good with that as his occupation.

She looked up from her food to look at the bustling city around them. They weren't too far from where her mother had once told her about the apartment she meant to buy and the sweets shop she meant to open. They also weren't too far from the park where Kalie hung out with her Dryad friends. On the mortal side, some of the idiotic guys were pelting birds with crackers, Nancy was trying to pickpocket passing civilians and Mrs. Dodds was just standing there, watching Saber like a hawk.

She was about to open her homemade triple chocolate chip cookie, when surprise surprise, Nancy Bobofit came over with her group of equally ugly friends. Apparently, she'd gotten bored of stealing from tourists. She grinned at Saber in a smug way and dumped her half-eaten lunch onto Grover's lap.

"Oops," she said as she grinned with her crooked teeth. Saber growled, trying to stay calm. Many a counselor had told her to control her anger, as if she didn't know to do that already. But she didn't want to be calm. However, she didn't want to punch her either. So, she did the next best thing. With the familiar roar of water and a pull in her gut, Nancy was sitting in the fountain, soaking wet.

Saber chuckled lightly. "Wow, Nancy. If you wanted a bath, you could've just waited till we got back to the school," she quipped as the girl's face turned red. She knew what was coming. She had planned it out.

"Sera pushed me!" the freckled girl screamed at the top of her lungs. Mrs. Dodds poofed into existence next to them, a hungry look in her eye. Gotcha, Saber thought with a small grin.

She could hear the students surrounding her whispering about how the water had grabbed her, and her grin widened ever so slightly. She loved showing off just a bit.

Mrs. Dodds turned to Saber and told her to follow, Grover trying to take the blame for Nancy being in the fountain. Saber was impressed with the scraggly boy. Two times in one day, he'd been more than the coward she though he was. As she followed Mrs. Dodds up the steps, Nancy smirked triumphantly, only to cry out as Saber kicked her in the face. She smirked mockingly at the girl on the ground as she turned and followed the monster-in-disguise.

Before long, they were back in the Greco-Roman section, which was abandoned. _Good,_ thought Saber. _No civilians means I can let loose a bit._ Monster-Dodds stood in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was growling deep in her throat, which was a dead giveaway to her true nature. The woman turned to her.

"You've been –"

"Stop a minute," Saber interrupted. The monster in disguise stared incredulously. "Before we get started, let it be known that whatever the gods are pissed about, I had nothing to do with it."

The woman was surprised at how calm the girl was. Apparently, she decided to try and scare her. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched into long, razor talons. Her jacket melted into a pair of large, leathery wings. She looked now like a hag, and Saber couldn't help but gulp in apprehension. _A Fury. Shit,_ she cursed. _I hate being right sometimes._ She hadn't face any of the Big Bad monsters in years, she wasn't sure how to go up against this one. Most she knew was that it would be in her best interest to ground her.

"So, you're a Fury," said Saber nonchalantly. "Well, you just made my day. There's a quite a hefty bounty out for any of the three Furies." The Fury's eyes widened as red energy flowed from the girl's hand and materialized into a familiar weapon. Clarent, The Radiant and Brilliant Royal sword that the fallen Knight Mordred wielded against her mother, Arturia Pendragon during her rebellion. The blade had long since become her go-to weapon. Excalibur, the Sword of Promised Victory, she only ever used when fighting unholy monsters. Unfortunately, a Fury didn't actually classify as a demon, despite their temperament and appearances.

The Fury backpedaled. "S-S-Saber!?" she hissed in fear. Saber's face split into a feral grin.

"You should really do some research before you attack someone." She said with a smirk as she charged, closing the distance in an instant. The Fury didn't stand a chance. Clarent's silver blade sliced through the demon with ease and the creature exploded into dust, leaving only a single talon behind. A trophy and proof of the kill. Saber sighed in relief as she let Clarent fade away. _Okay so maybe I haven't lost my touch for the big-league monsters,_ she thought with a grin as she picked the talon off the ground. _The Romans will pay big money for this._ She looked around to see if anyone had spotted her. She highly doubted it but better safe than sorry. She spotted a single camera up in the corner of the ceiling. She shook her head. The amount of power she had let loose when she called up Clarent will have fried the circuits so she didn't need to warry about that. Discretion was a bounty hunter's best friend. She wasn't the best in the US for nothing.

She arrived outside a few minutes later. It was starting to rain. Grover was still at the fountain with a museum map over his head. She started to head over to him, but was immediately confronted by Nancy. "I hope Mrs. Kerr kicked your butt."

Saber grimaced for a moment. _Of course, the Mist would make them think the Fury was never here. Damned mortals._ She shook her head. "Nope. She just wanted me to get you a shirt from the gift shop. Too bad for you." She smirked as the freckled girl's face fell. She tossed the museum shirt she had picked up on the way out at Nancy, smirking the whole while. "Do try and be a bit less clumsy in the future.

* * *

Saber was used to getting attacked by monsters and Mortals not noticing it. However, Grover seemed to be more than just a Mortal. She had let the name Mrs. Dodds slip out while they were sitting down to eat and the scraggly boy had flinched, hesitated and claimed that there had never been a Mrs. Dodds. He was lying to her. Just as he'd always been a coward, he was also a terrible liar.

As per usual for demigods, her dreams began to change to visions of two men fighting on a stormy beach, arguing over something. She couldn't tell who they were, but she had called for them to stop, only to wake up in a cold sweat. After that, it became impossible for her to sleep. She became crankier than usual, grades failing and getting into more fights with Nancy and her posse. Thankfully she had been able to control herself just enough to keep from killing them, which would've been a simple thing considering what she'd been through. Her English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked her why she was too lazy to study for a spelling test and she snapped as he was grabbing her arm in what he assumed was a strong grip. She had called him a – well it wasn't very nice as she broke his wrist for touching her.

The headmaster had sent a letter to the lady responsible for getting her into Yancy Academy. She wouldn't be invited back for another year, which was fine by her. She had been planning to leave New York behind for a few months or so anyways. There were only a few things she'd miss about staying in New York. Being able visit Kalie for one. Mr. Brunner's class for another. If Grover hadn't been lying to her, she'd miss him too. But she'd been betrayed and lied to a few too many times over the last seven years to forgive lies very easily.

The night before her final, she'd been studying for several hours. Grover had gone off to do something or another a few minutes before, so he didn't see her lose her temper and throw her book against the wall in frustration. Her dyslexia was acting up again. She decided to go for a walk, get her head on straight, maybe tire herself out enough to sleep without nightmares. She had been headed passed some of the classes when she noticed that Mr. Brunner's office door was ajar and Grover's voice was leaking out.

She pressed herself to the wall as she listened in.

"…worried about Sera, sir." He was saying. She grimaced at her first name. Still hated how weak it made her feel. It was stupid, she knew, but you try watching your mom get killed by a giant cat and not feel weak about such a wimpy name.

"… alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the School! Sure, she killed it, but still. Now we know for sure that they know too—"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing her," Mr. Brunner said. "We need her to mature more. The way she is now, she has skill yes, but she's nowhere near ready."

She bristled at that. Not ready for what? She was getting sick and tired at people hiding things from her. She did it to protect mortals from the truth and to keep Kalie from worrying about her too much.

"But she may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line—"

"Will have to be resolved without her, Grover. Let her have a bit of ignorance while she still can."

"But she saw her… she knew what she was"

"Her imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted, making Saber snarl. _Imagination!? Try seeing them hurt innocent people and taking my family from me!_ "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince her of that." She scoffed. Obviously, the man hadn't been paying attention.

"Sir, I … I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice trembled with emotion. _Duties? What is he talking about…don't tell me he's another Mythos!? How did I miss that?_ "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Sera alive until next fall—"

The water bottle in her hand fell to the ground with a clack. Saber cursed, she'd been standing there long enough for her hand to fall asleep. She scooped it up as she slipped into the nearest door, falling silent as she called up Jack the Ripper's daggers, just in case. The serrated crimson blades rested easily in her hands, waiting for something to happen. Mr. Brunner's door opened and light spilled out, the shadow of something much taller than the wheelchair-bound teacher. The shadow appeared to be holding an archer's bow. She held her breath as the slow clop-clop-clop of hooves stopped right outside her door. She cursed to herself. Mr. Brunner was a centaur; the wheelchair was a disguise. She'd been right about him not being human. She raised her blades in case he decided to attack.

Out in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he muttered, "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."

"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could've sworn…"

"Go back to the dorms," Brunner said to him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."

"Don't remind me."

The lights went out and Saber could hear the centaur's footsteps retreating as the clack of Grover's crutches as he moved back to the dorm. She cursed to herself as she released the daggers, letting them fade away as they fell. Saber stepped out and headed back to the dorm, mind racing. She didn't acknowledge Grover as she laid down on her bed, not bothering to change her clothes. Brunner and Grover were under the impression that she was in danger. More so than usual. What was that about the solstice? She knew that that time of year was important in Greek Mythology, but what did it have to do with her? She shook her head and went to sleep.


	4. Chapter 2: My friend is a goat, huh?

_**Chapter Two: My friend is a goat…huh?**_

The next afternoon as she was leaving the three-hour-long Latin exam, her brain drowning in Greek and Roman names, Mr. Brunner called her back inside. She had half a mind to ignore him and keep going. But despite the man being a centaur in disguise, she still respected him enough to return to the class. She immediately regretted it as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Sera," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's … it's for the best."

His tone was supposed to be kind, but it was hard to see it that way since he was still being loud enough for everyone to hear. She didn't care all that much, considering she had absolutely no problem with leaving, but having everyone hear what should've been a personal conversation was a bit demeaning. Nancy Bobofit smirked at Saber and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. Saber held up a hand to stop Mr. Brunner and grabbed the iron sphere he kept on his desk. "Sorry about this, sir." She turned and threw it, the orb smashing into Nancy's face with a crunch, knocking her out of her chair with a thud as she hit the floor. The class was reminded right then and there why she was considered the most dangerous person in the school and all went back to minding their own business. She turned back to a shocked Brunner (if that was actually his name. Mythos' tended to change their names when in hiding) and grinned.

"Sorry," she said, not really meaning it. "I've been waiting to do that since I got here. Nancy there has a bad habit of poke a sleeping dragon in the eye." She smirked as she referenced the nickname Kalie had given her the first time she saw her fight a Drakon in Central Park. "And since I'm leaving already, I don't have to worry about getting in trouble anymore. Don't sweat it Mr. Brunner. This place wasn't for me anyways. I'm not much of a school girl. Too different." With that, she turned on her heel and headed out the door.

* * *

Last day of term, she was happily stuffing her clothes into her duffle bag. Everyone else was talking about their summer plans. Some guy was going hiking in Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were all rich, money wise. Her summer would consist of simultaneously hunting monsters, trying to puzzle out who was mad at her and why, all why avoiding the Child Services. Fun times. The only person she dreaded saying goodbye to was Grover. She had long since forgiven him for lying, seeing as he seemed to be trying to look out for her. But as it turned out, she didn't have too.

He had booked a ticket to Manhattan same as her on the same Greyhound bus, so they ended up sitting together as they headed to the city. She knew it wouldn't last long, she was heading to Central Park to visit Kalie before she headed west, and he was probably going to wherever he lived. The whole ride he kept glancing around nervously, almost as though he was waiting for something bad to happen. Being honest, she was too due to her eternal bad luck but she really didn't stress over it. At the school, she had assumed it was because he was worried about being picked on, but that had been before she figured he was some kind of forest Mythos. Finally, she couldn't handle his constant twitching.

"Looking for Kindly Ones?" she half sneered, surprising herself with how angry she sounded. _Guess I'm not as over it as I thought_. "That is what you call monsters right? Kindly Ones?" she scoffed at the name. There was nothing kind about the monsters of the ancient world, she had learned that the hard way.

Grover paled. "Wha—what are you talking about?"

She snarled, causing the scraggly boy to flinch. "Don't play games with me, Grover. I've been dealing with monsters since I was six-years-old. I know what a Fury is. I also know what the Mist is and the Gods, not that I like them all that much." She explained about how she had listened in on him and Mr. Brunner, who she ousted as a centaur. "It was a nice touch, trying to make me think I'm going crazy by using the Mist to make everyone forget Mrs. Dodds ever existed. Would've worked if I was anyone else."

With every accusation, Grover winced, looking very much ashamed at the words the shaggy haired girl was hissing out.

"It's bad enough you think I'm helpless, but you seem to think me an idiot as well!" she finished with a snap.

He hung his head and she looked out the window, fuming silently as she tried to rein in her anger. She'd have to get to Kalie for a massage. That always helped her loosen up a bit. She was interrupted form her heated musings as there was a huge grinding noise under their feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus was filled with the smell of rotten eggs. The driver cursed loudly and carefully pulled over to the side of the road. As soon as the bus pulled to a stop and the doors opened, Saber was out on the side of the road, her dark red baseball cap pulled low over her eyes.

They were on a stretch of country road, the kind of place you wouldn't notice if you didn't break down there. Behind her was nothing but trees and litter from passing cars. Her face twisted into a snarl. She hated litterers. Considering her best friend was a Dryad, she was very picky about people putting their trash in trash cans. On the other side of the road was an old-fashioned fruit stand. The stuff on sale looked great: blood red cherries and apples, walnuts, apricots and jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies knitting a pair of socks that could fit a Hyperborean Giant. The lady in the middle held a massive ball of electric-blue yarn, while the two on the ends knitted the actual socks.

The women themselves looked ancient, faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandanas, and bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses. She sighed in exasperation and waved at the three old ladies. They'd met before. The Three Fates. The lady in the middle smiled as warmly as the three ancients were capable of and went back to focusing on her sisters as they knitted. Saber turned to Grover, who had come to stand next to her, to see him pale faced and twitching nose.

"T-they're looking at you? You know the Fates!?" Grover sounded as though he were about to have a heart-attack. Saber only nodded and looked back to the Three Fates. Her blood froze in her veins as the middle Fate pulled out a pair of shears made of gold and silver – The Shears of Fate. Saber watched as the old woman kept staring directly at her and cut the yarn. She could hear the snip from four lanes away. The old woman's smile faded a bit and the three women methodically put the yarn away. Despite the heat, Saber quickly moved back into the bus. She knew she was stronger than the average demigod, both due to her heritage on both sides of her family and due to her unusual ability to call upon ancient and powerful weapons once wielded by Heroes and Villains alike. But the Fates were the type of creatures you couldn't pay Saber to fight. Nothing could defeat them, and she and the Ancients had had an iffy relationship since that day in LA.

She sat down with a shudder. She hadn't died when the cord was cut, so either it wasn't her time to die just yet or she wasn't the one going to die. She'd have a hand in their death, but it wouldn't be her. Didn't make her feel all that better. It was always disturbing on incomprehensible levels, watching those Ancients cut the cord. It had only happened twice before, but it always made her feel cold inside, almost as though her power over the seas had turned to ice. She shook herself to clear her head to clear it. She dimly heard the driver exclaim in triumph as he fixed the bus, barely noticed Grover muttering to himself as the bus took off again. _I seriously need to go see Kalie._

* * *

Confession time: Saber may or may not have ditched Grover at the bus terminal. Whether or not it was rude, she couldn't handle his worrying on top of trying to puzzle out whether or not it was her that was going to die or someone else. The Mythos-in-disguise's bladder acted up when he got upset, so as soon as he headed to the bathroom at the terminal, Saber had grabbed her bag and hopped in a taxi headed to Central Park. Her mind was still racing from what had happened with the Fates. She needed to talk to Kalie.

First thing to know about Kalie. She was Dryad. Second thing to know: she was the second kindest person Saber had ever met. And the only person who could get away with calling her Sera without making the girl uncomfortable. The Dryad was always helping the homeless around the Park, her green hair and bright smile brightening everyone's day. The cops couldn't evict her, since anytime they got close, she would simply melt back into her oak tree. She was also the reason Saber knew that not all creatures hidden by the Mist were evil, murdering bastards. Saber had been hunting a group of Dracaena; Snake-Women; through Central Park when she was about eight-years-old. She had cornered them after three days of tracking only to find that it was a trap. A trap made even worse when she had tried to summon Arondight, sword of the Knight Lancelot. The pain that had lanced through her from attempting to use such a powerful weapon she hadn't been familiar with had forced the girl to her knees.

She had barely managed to summon a nameless black longsword before the snake-women had been on top of her, slashing with their claws, scimitars and spears. It had been a hard fight, but she managed to kill them all, though not without being severely injured herself, having been slashed along the ribs by a set of razor talons. After she had passed out sitting against an oak tree, Kalie had found her in a pool of her own blood. The tree had happened to be her tree, so she had taken offense to blood on it until she had seen the eight-year-old slowly bleeding out. When Saber had woken up, she had found herself in a small cave with her wounds dressed and bandaged. And had promptly almost took the dryad's head off as she entered to check on the injured girl. It had taken a couple of months of being on the mend in the tree spirit's care to slowly realize that not all the creatures hidden by the Mist were monsters wanting to kill her. Since then, they had been the closest of friends, almost sisters.

It was that connection with the dryad that brought a smile to Saber's face as she spotted her surrogate sister's leaf green hair bobbing between different homeless people under one of the many bridges in the Park, the dryad passing out food, blankets and jackets with a bright smile. Saber waited with a patience reserved only for the green haired girl, watching with a warm smile as the girl moved back and forth, exchanging niceties with the homeless. Of course, even that brought back memories of her mother Sally. She had been everything Saber had hoped to be when she grew up, before the giant Lion had killed her. Warm, compassionate, generous and patient as the mountain. The only time she had ever seen Sally yell was that day on the beach when she screamed at Poseidon for hours on end. She shook her head as her friend made her way over to her, smile fading ever so slightly at the melancholy look on the dark-haired girl's face.

Her questioning look was waylaid as Saber shook her head, reaching out to hug to dryad.

"Just old memories is all, sis." She said with a small smile as she pulled away and put her right arm over the dryad's shoulder. "That and a whole lot of crazy."

Kalie's bright green eyes widened and she nodded. "Alright, come on." The dryad led the way to her massive oak tree. At the base of the roots was the entrance to the cave where Kalie and Saber spent most of their time together. It was a quaint little hovel, decorated with mementos from the people Kalie had helped over her time in Central Park, little rocks the dryad had found interesting and a few of the trophies Saber had collected from the less dangerous, less profitable monsters. The small bed in the back of the cave was covered in colorful sheets and blankets, much to Saber's irritation. One of the few things the girls couldn't agree on was the bedsheets. Kalie liked lots of color, Saber preferred dark gray, black or dark red.

Saber set her bag down with a groan as her stiff muscles stretched. Kalie, being the ever-observant friend, almost forced Saber to pull her jacket and tank top off and lay down so she could get to the massage. Saber had groaned in satisfaction as the dryad began working her fingers and elbows into her warrior's tense muscles.

"So, what exactly happened at Yancy Academy to get you this tense?" asked the tree spirit as she worked her friend's muscles.

"Mostly just an idiot girl with no survival instinct pushing my buttons. Right up until our field trip to the Art & History Museum…"

Saber began to lay out everything, from the Fury attacking her, the conversation Mr. Brunner had with Grover and the Fates snipping the cord at the fruit stand.

By the end of her tale, Kalie was staring at Saber with fear in her eyes, her normally tan face bone white. They sat side by side on the bed, Kalie sitting in silence while Saber leaned against the headboard, throwing a bouncy ball at the wall. After several minutes, Kalie spoke.

"Sera," she started, leaf green eyes looking to Sera's sea-green. "The gods are mad about something. Ever since the Winter Solstice, Zeus has been beyond angry. Poseidon as well, though not nearly as much. And now you say a Fury was hunting you? That says that Hades thinks you did something to seriously piss him off."

Saber scoffed. The Lord of the Dead, she could never tell with him, since she had only dealt with the god three times in the past. Zeus on the other hand, there was no telling with that Drama king. Poseidon was as unpredictable as the ocean. Saber was the same way. One second, she could be as calm as could be. But like the sea, piss her off and here comes the storm. But that was beside the point. She kept bouncing the ball.

Kalie snatched the ball out of the air to grab her friend's attention. "This is serious, Sera." She said, glaring at the black-haired girl. "If the Big Three are all angry, especially at each other, that could mean a civil war between the gods! A battle of that magnitude could level the whole country."

Saber shook her head. "You're over reacting, Kalie. The gods fight over every little thing. They wouldn't go to war, it would threaten all the little mortals they rely on for their power." The gods were fickle creatures. She'd only met a couple, those couple being Athena and Artemis. Both of which she respected, for the most part. She didn't exactly like Athena, the woman was too haughty and arrogant, not to mention she cursed a certain young woman when the Half-Blood's bastard of a father had raped the poor girl. Artemis on the other hand, Saber kind of liked. The virgin goddess had led her Hunters for millennia, ignoring the mandates of her father Zeus. Saber had been invited to join the Hunters once, though she had turned the offer down. She didn't want to live forever. She wanted to do her best to achieve her dream, then she'd die with a smile on her face and go see her mother once more. She had long since accepted her eventual fate.

Kalie shook her head. "Not this time. Zeus is very angry. Angrier than he's been in nearly two hundred years. This could very well become a war."

Saber mulled it over in her head, but there was too much. She needed the sea. She stood. "I need some time to think. I'm heading to Montauk to clear my head for a bit. I'll see you in a few days, but then I'm heading west. I've got a few contacts who might be able to tell me more about what's got the gods all riled up."

The dryad nodded. She knew the Daughter of the Sea god needed the ocean to think clearly after something like this. It was in her blood. "Be careful, Sera. I don't want to hear from my cousins that you got yourself killed without saying a proper goodbye." The dryad tried to joke, but Sera knew that she was genuinely scared. She reached over and pulled the dryad girl into a tight hug, letting the girl hold her as tight as possible for a few minutes.

After ten minutes, Saber pulled away and wiped the dryad's face, for the girl had been crying out of fear. "I'm too stubborn to die just yet. I'll be fine. See you in a few days."

* * *

Montauk. Sally had bought the small cabin on the beach during their short time in New York when her daughter was no old than three. After Saber had become a bounty hunter, she had used her money to buy the beach front property and had it repaired. It had long-since become a place for the girl-warrior to relax by the ocean and clear her head. She often had small bonfires, went night-swimming and trained at the place, all to clear her head and give her a tiny bit of peace in her crazy life. Tonight, was all about clearing her head. To do that, Saber sat just beyond the tide's reach and closed her eyes, reaching deep into herself and far into the past for another weapon to unlock. It was a complicated process, one that Saber didn't entirely understand herself.

From what she could tell, her mind and soul essentially reached backwards through time in search of powerful weapons, scanning them and placing them in her Unlimited Blade Works for later use and alteration.

Hours passed, with the only movement from the girl being her breathing and locks of her dark hair swaying in the ocean breeze. By the time she opened her eyes, it was dark, maybe eleven at night. She grinned as she called forth the massive drill-like blade she had unlocked. Caladbolg: The Rainbow Sword. The weapon of the Irish Hero, Fergus mac Róich. By summoning the weapon, she had unlocked her ability to make the copy that doubled as an arrow the instant she had called forth the drill-like sword. She couldn't wait to test it out.

She sighed in relief as she let the spiral weapon fade away, looking up to the sky with a smile. Despite knowing that the dead went to the Underworld, she always preferred to think that her mother was up above, watching her from the stars. It made her happy. With a shake of her head, she pushed herself up from the sand, wiped off her pants and went inside the cabin, quickly changing and going to sleep. That night, she had a dream, vivid as the real world.

 _A storm was in the air, the screaming wind tearing at the ocean and sand. On the beach, two beautiful animals battled. A white horse with ocean colored eyes and a golden eagle with electric blue eyes were trying to kill each other on the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped and screeched as it slashed at the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The ground rumbled as they fought, a monstrous voice laughing malevolently from deep beneath the ground, goading the animals into further battle. She ran toward them, trying to summon something, anything to try and separate the two, but her powers weren't working. She moved in slow motion, knowing she had to stop them, but not sure how she knew. She knew she was going to be too late as she watched the eagle swoop down, its claws aimed for the horse's wide eyes. She screamed._ **NO!**

She bolted upright in bed, her hand occupied by the white falchion, Bakuya, which she had unlocked a year before hand. Her chest heaved as sweat ran down her face and back. Letting the blade vanish, her head fell into her hands. Outside, it was truly storming, lightning flashing and twenty-foot waves hitting the dunes like artillery fire. Her brow furrowed. It was a hurricane. It made no sense. Even if Poseidon was angry, a hurricane this far north at this time of year should've been impossible. She shook her head and quickly moved to the bathroom, where she washed her face and dressed, an apprehensive feeling in her gut. Something was coming and she intended to be ready. Over the roar of the wind, she heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made her hair stand on end. Whatever it was, it was big, angry and something she hadn't come across before.

The sound of mallets on the sand emanated from the outside. Shortly after, someone pounded on her front door. Summoning Jack the Ripper's daggers, she pulled open the door quickly, raising the crimson blades in defense. She needn't have bothered, since it was only Grover. Though he wasn't the Grover she knew.

"Searching all night," he gasped, even as his wide eyes stared at the knives in her hands. She dismissed the blades with a thought, causing his eyes to widen even more. "What were you thinking?"

Okay, so she ditched him after promising him that she'd stay close, but in her defense, she had crossed her fingers behind her back. Okay so that wasn't much of an excuse, but still. She was a prideful person, having the cripple kid insinuate that he could protect her better than seven years of combat experience could ticked her off a fair bit.

She was too busy staring at his lower half to answer. He had goat legs…she slapped her forehead. _He's a fracking Satyr._

" _O Zeu kai alloi theoi!_ " he yelled. "It's right behind me! What were you thinking!?"

She scowled at him. "I was thinking that I've been killing monsters since I was six years old and you, a formerly crippled kid, assumed that I needed you to stay alive. I'm a prideful person, Grover. I don't appreciate being called weak."

He made a bleating sound and grabbed her arm. "Never mind that, we need to go now!"

He pushed her toward what appeared to be a 1978 orange Camaro. She would've pulled away if she hadn't heard the bellow again. It made her skin crawl. So, instead of resisting him, she pulled him along. Pulling down the seat, she pushed him into the back and got behind the wheel. She turned the key and pressed the gas even as she took the car out of 'Park'. The wheels spun on the sand for a moment before the car took off.

They tore through the night, Grover shouting directions that Saber followed without question, since he knew the area a bit better than her. Wind slammed against the sides of the car, while rain lashed the wind-shield. Saber was thankful for her Reinforcement skills, since without them, she wouldn't have been able to see anything. Her eyes kept flitting to the rear-view mirror, searching for whatever was chasing them, but she saw nothing.

"So, how long have you known I was a demigod?" she called into the back seat.

"Me? How long have you known? How have you survived for so long?" he asked back, staring out the back window.

"Since I was an infant. Monsters kept coming after us. Seven years ago, my mom and I were in LA when they cornered us. Killed everyone in sight to get to us. Mom sacrificed herself to protect me from a big ass cat. I managed to kill the Lion with my summoning skills. I've been on my own while hunting monsters ever since." She said quickly, taking a sharp turn that had the sports car skidding across the wet ground. _I should've listened to Kalie, but nooo, I'm too damned stubborn._ She grumbled as she got the car under control again.

Grover turned to look at her in the rear-view mirror "I was assigned to be your protector. Wasn't expecting you to be so powerful so soon. I didn't expect the monsters to stay away for as long as they did, but now you're being hunted."

"What exactly is chasing us, Grover?" she asked as he ordered another turn.

"Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."

"Oh, joy. I am really starting to hate Hades!"

"Could you please drive faster, we're almost there." He almost ordered. She nodded, putting the pedal to the metal as the car raced down the darkened road. After a few minutes of silence, she went to ask Grover about Mr. Brunner when the hair rose on the back of her neck. _No, don't you dare you –_ she thought, her thoughts interrupted by the world turning white, a jaw-rattling boom! and the car exploded.

She went weightless, like she was being crushed, burned and hosed down all at once. A sensation she had felt only once before. Zeus had just tried to kill her.

She slowly peeled her head off the steering wheel, her forehead pouring blood from a gash just above her right eye. She groaned. "Fracking…bastard," she grumbled, cursing Zeus in Ancient Greek and Latin.

She slowly turned around, searching for Grover. Her heart stopped as she spotted him. He'd been thrown from the car and wasn't moving. _No…not again._

With an almighty kick, the driver side door flew off its hinges. She scrambled out, her head still spinning from the crash as she stumbled toward her friend. _I'm not losing you too. Don't you dare be dead._ She silently begged as she fell to his side. Pressing a finger to his neck, she sighed in relief as she felt a pulse. She grimaced as she picked him up, the scraggly boy even lighter than she'd been expecting, and threw him over her shoulder in a fireman's carry. With a grunt, she started uphill, toward the surge of magic and Mist. Somehow, she knew they'd be safe there. However, the huffing of an animal had her turning around to see the monster that had been chasing them. Her heart stopped again. _Anymore and I'll be having a heart attack._ She thought numbly.

The thing was seven feet tall and was covered in bulging muscle and straining, vein webbed skin, it was a sight to behold. He wore no clothes except for bright white Fruit of the Looms underwear, a sight that would've made her laugh at any other time. Coarse brown hair stared at midway down his stomach and got thicker as it moved up his body to his shoulders. His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading to his enormous head, which was made up of a snout as long as her arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes that she'd seen in only the most dangerous of monsters. The top of his head was topped with massive black-white horns with points needle thin.

 _The Minotaur…_ she realized in horror. This was one monster she had no intention of tangling with anytime soon. As powerful as she had become over the last seven years, she was dead meat if she faced him in her current condition. She did the only thing that made sense: she turned and ran as fast as she could up the muddy hill. As if sensing she wasn't in the car, the bull-man grabbed the Camaro by the undercarriage and lifted it above her head. With an almighty heave, the car went flipping end over end before crashing several dozen meters away.

Saber sped up as much as she could, but Grover decided to start coming to just then.

"Foooood!" he moaned, and Saber cursed as she heard the Minotaur turn towards her. They were only a few meters from the magic barrier. She almost sighed in relief when she heard the rapid stomping. He was charging. Her brow furrowed, her teeth clenched. They wouldn't make it at their current speed, and Grover couldn't fight in his condition. She did the only thing she could. She threw Grover as hard as she could, sending him flying through the magic barrier with a shimmer of light. Turning on her heel and pouring her energy into her arms and legs, Reinforcing them as she threw her most powerful left hook. Her fist collided with the Minotaur's. The ground shattered, the air splitting like a crack of thunder. Her arm exploded in pain and she went flying back, colliding with a large pine tree. She hit the ground hard, and cried out in pain. Her left arm was bleeding, the bones shattered inside the flesh. _If I hadn't Reinforced my arm, the bones would've been nothing more than dust…as it stands, shards of bone hurts **way** more._ She thought as she pushed herself up. The Minotaur was pushing himself up, apparently having been knocked down by the impact.

Even as she swayed on the spot, the bull-man righted himself and charged. If her arm was at full strength rather than the bones being shattered, she would've jumped to the side and summoned one of her many blades to kill the monster. However, in her current condition, she had only one choice. She jumped straight up, going over the bull and grabbing hold of his horn with her one good arm. He began to buck and twist like a rodeo bull. She held on tighter, pulling back hard. With an almighty pull, even as the muscles in her arm began to tear, there was a _snap!_ And she fell to the mud, the tip of the bull's horn in her hand. She grimaced as she forced herself into a kneeling position, her energy fading quickly. _One last attack, gotta make it count._

The bull turned once more and charged, intent on crushing her under foot. As he approached, she rolled to the left, screaming as her shattered arm hit the ground, and drove the horn up under his ribs as she came up from the roll. He roared in agony, but Saber didn't let up and instead released the horn only to rear her right arm back before punching it forward, her fist colliding with the ragged end of the broken horn, driving the bone deep into the monster's chest, piercing his heart. Like many a monster before him, the Minotaur slowly turned to dust at the hands of Saber. The horn fell to the ground, covered in dark red blood. She left it were it lay as she stood carefully, stumbling towards Grover. She wasn't quite sure how she put him over her shoulder with one arm out of commission, but soon she was staggering down into the valley below, calling for aid.

The last thing she remembered was collapsing on a wooden porch, staring up at the ceiling fan circling above her as moths fluttered around yellow lights. The stern faces of oddly familiar faces stared down at her, that of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty blonde girl, her blond hair curling around her head, framing hauntingly familiar gray eyes. They both looked down at the broken, bleeding girl and unconscious satyr.

"She's the one. She must be," the girl said in a voice that seemed to make Saber's blood sing.

Silence, Annabeth," the man said, making Saber's brow furrow. "She's still conscious, a feat all of its own. Bring her inside."

Her will finally giving out, Saber faded into Morpheus's realm.


	5. Chapter 3: Camp Half-Blood

_**Chapter Three: Camp Half-Blood**_

 _ **Annabeth Chase**_

The Daughter of Athena cursed to herself. They had expected Grover to arrive hours before he did, with a powerful Half-Blood that would've been her ticket into the outside world. Instead, he had been carried into camp by the very Half-Blood he'd been sent to find and retrieve, the girl barely standing as she carried the unconscious Satyr to the Big House, her left arm bleeding and broken and a cut just above her right eye pouring blood.

They had gone to the gate of the camp to find a massive pile of monster dust, and a gigantic bull's horn. Her blood had run cold at the sight of it. _That girl…killed the Minotaur?! How?_ She had thought to herself, looking to the children of Apollo, Ares and Hephaestus that had joined her at the gate, all of whom seemed to be thinking the exact same thing as her. The girl had killed one of the most infamous monsters alive with one good arm and the monster's own horn…she was dangerous. Unbelievably so. Not just from her apparent ridiculous levels of strength, but also in terms of skill and raw power.

The Apollo-girls had noticed the massive level of power the girl possessed when they had been healing her. They had called in one of the unclaimed Daughters of Hecate, Helen Green, to do a check-up. The sorceress-in-training had discovered powerful magics of unknown origin and purpose flowing through the wounded girl's whole body. The magic seemed to focus within a massively dense reservoir within the girl, the power unlike anything even Chiron had seen. She had attributed it to Grover's report of the girl's ability to summon weapons from…somewhere.

The girl in question was still unconscious even after two days of intensive healing sessions from the Apollo girls and the Daughters of Hecate and Demeter that volunteered to help. Her arm had been painstakingly reset and healed, the damage done to her muscles from the girl yanking the Minotaur's horn off had been repaired. Though the few Aphrodite girls who had shown up had practically squealed in excitement at the sight of the unconscious girl, calling her 'dangerously beautiful', whatever the heck that was supposed to mean. The girl should've been waking up, but so far nothing. Annabeth eyed the girl's bare back. Her clothes were currently being washed and repaired, leaving the girl face down on the bed.

Her bare back was a sight to see. Scars crisscrossed over the flesh, a sign of many intense battles that had left their marks on the girl. The scars weren't exclusive to her back. A sword-cut on her upper right arm was nicely healed, a burn on her lower left leg was also very well healed. A massive set of claw slashes on her lower right side had sealed nicely, making three even scars. The whole girl's body had scars here and there, crisscrossing over strong muscles and tanned skin. On her back was the oddest sight. Rippling with lean muscle and old scars, a red and blue tattoo sat in the upper center of her back, just between her shoulder blades. Two swords; one red, one blue; crossed, with swirling, vine-like markings stretching out from the tattoo blades. _The girl isn't even fourteen and she already has such an extensive tattoo? Just who the Hades is this girl?_ Annabeth scowled. The girl was a mystery. Powerful, extremely skilled and from what Grover had said, both unpredictable and loyal to those she called friend. A powerful ally on one hand, a potentially dangerous enemy on the other. She cursed again. Just what the Hades was going on around here!?

 _ **Sera Jackson (Saber)**_

Saber hated her dreams. They usually held visions of things she either didn't care about or didn't want to see. Currently, she wasn't sure what she wanted. She saw her mother, Sally, standing in a golden field, smiling softly at her daughter even as the girl tried to reach her, a rumbling voice laughing mockingly at the girl, causing her to scream in frustration and desperation.

She had woken up several times. Her exhausted brain was barely able to understand what she saw. The first time, she had woken up to the tasted of buttered popcorn in her mouth, a substance like pudding in her mouth. The pretty blonde girl had been sitting by her side, scraping food off her chin with a spoon whilst smirking.

When she saw Saber's eyes crack open, she leaned forward and asked, "What will happen on the summer solstice?"

"What?" Saber managed to croak, her brain not quite firing on all cylinders.

The girl looked around, as if she was afraid someone was going to overhear. Saber only barely noticed. She was too busy admiring the girl's elegant face, her tired heart picking up ever so slightly at the girl's beauty. The girl leaned closer, her eyes wide with barely restrained fear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"

The fear on the girl's face was shocking, and it was something that made Saber want to get up. She had tried too, attempting to push herself upright so that she could fight whatever was making the girl afraid. Something made her want to protect the girl in front of her. The girl had seemed surprised and pushed her back into the soft bed, filling her mouth with the popcorn tasting pudding.

The second time she had woken up, the girl was gone.

In her place was a husky blond dude who looked a bit like a surfer stood in the corner of the room, keeping watch over her. He had dozens of blue eyes all over his face, neck, arms and hands. That had been too weird for her, so she promptly passed out again.

* * *

Once she had woken up again, for good this time, there hadn't seemed to be anything out of the ordinary around. She groaned as she sat up, her sore muscles screaming in protest as she moved.

 _Whelp…that fight definitely happened._ She hissed internally, looking down at her left arm. It was sore, but otherwise fine. Somebody had healed her while she had been unconscious. She shook her head and called forth Clarent, letting the shimmering blade materialize in her hand, before she stood and placed the blade on her back, the scabbard forming to hold the silver sword.

Her head snapped up as the door open, a normal looking Grover walking in with a shoe box in his hands. He looked normal, and the Mist wasn't twisting around him. _Baggy pants and fake shoes. Has to be,_ she thought, watching him as he approached almost hesitantly. She sighed. She must've scared him. Her _very_ small group of friends knew that she would never hurt any of them, so there was never any reason to be afraid. Well, unless she was eating. Or had been sleeping when they entered. Then, yes, it was best to keep their distance.

"You saved my life," Grover said shakily. "I … well, the least I could do … I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."

Reverently, he placed the box on the bed next to her.

She flipped the lid open and looked inside. Inside was the black-white horn she had killed the Minotaur with. She stared at it for several moments.

"Hmph," she shrugged. "Wonder if there's a bounty out for the Minotaur." She mused aloud, ignoring the shocked look on Grover's face.

"This—this is a spoil of war and you'd just sell it!?" he exclaimed. She shrugged.

"Hey, girl's gotta make money somehow. I can still get a pretty drachma from that Fury talon." She headed out the door, picking up the box as she went. Grover followed quickly, still shocked.

"So, where the hell are we?" she asked, looking to the Satyr.

He looked at her. "This is one of the only safe places in the world of demigods. Camp Half-Blood."

She froze. _Camp Half-Blood!? Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Why in the hell did I let him lead me here!?_ Saber cursed as she looked around. She had heard of Camp Half-Blood. Hell, she'd fought a couple demigods from the Camp. She had beaten them black and blue with no trouble at all and laughed at them, humiliating a Daughter of Ares with an electric spear. Granted, she'd been wearing Mordred's full draconian style armor at the time so her face had been hidden from view, but still. She needed to get the hell out of there.

She took a deep breath. _It's fine. Nobody will recognize me. Hell, I wasn't even using Clarent back then. It was Aestus Estus: The Embryonic Flame, Nero's weapon._ She shook her head and looked around at the area. It looked as though they were on the northern shore of Long Island, the ocean water reaching right up to the valley a mile away. Even now, she could feel the pull of the sea, calling to her. Oh, how she wanted to go jump in the water right then and there, to let the water wash away her pain, but that would've ousted her as the Daughter of Poseidon, and she wanted to keep that hidden for as long as possible.

Dotting the landscape were brand-spanking new buildings built to resemble ancient Greek architecture, their white marble columns sparkling in the war sunlight. She could see an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, and a circular arena. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high-school aged kids and a few satyrs were playing volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake, almost everyone there was wearing bright orange t-shirts like the one Grover currently had on. A bunch of younger kids chased each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range, which reminded Saber that she needed to practice her archery. Her ability to summon weapons didn't mean she could immediately use them perfectly. When she made a copy of a sword or axe and made an arrow out of it, she required one of her many bows to use them correctly, all she needed to do was practice a bit. Other kids rode horses down a wooded trail, some of which seemed to be pegasi. She could vaguely hear the horses chatting with one another; another skill from her dead-beat divine father. The ability to understand and talk to horses.

Down on the bottom floor of a big barn, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl from before was leaning on the porch rail next to them, looking bored, contemplative and angry all at once.

The man facing her was small, but rather porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked almost like those paintings she'd seen of roman love gods, cherubs. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt and probably would've fit in with that idiot who's building she had stayed in for a while, Gabe something-or-other's weekly poker parties. However, she knew just from looking at him that he was much more than just some chubby guy. She could feel the power coming off the guy. Not nearly as powerful as say Artemis or Athena, but the guy was definitely a god.

 _Fuck. Not awake five minutes, and I've already run into an Olympian._ She thought with a grimace.

"That's Mr. D," murmured Grover right next to her. "he's the camp director. Be polite." Saber had scoffed. She wasn't polite to any of the gods except for Artemis. "The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. she's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron…"

Saber jolted at the sight of the wheel-chaired man. Her forehead met her hand at his name. Centaur and teacher? Of course, her Latin teacher was the Chiron of legend. The one who had trained Heracles, the Son of Zeus, Achilles, Son of Thetis, and Perseus, also Son of Zeus.

"So, your real name is Chiron? As in…The Chiron? Trainer of heroes since the Golden Age of the Gods?" she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from the Centaur-in-hiding. The bearded man turned around and grinned, that mischievous glint in his eye just like the one he got when he had made all the answers 'B' on a multiple chose pop quiz.

"Ah, good, Sera." He said cheerily. "Now we have four for pinochle"

He offered her a chair, but she only glared at the cards. She hated gambling games. "No thanks, Chiron. I don't play cards."

The cherub-god glared at her. "Either play or be turned to ash. Your choice."

She gave the man a feral grin. "Screw you. You may be a god, but that doesn't mean jack-shit to me."

The god looked beyond surprised at her words, while Grover, Chiron, and Annabeth watched with bated breath. The god's eyes burst into purple flame and Saber felt magic rush over her. Her grin widened as she felt Anti-Magic properties of her inherited Dragon's Blood kick in, causing the magic slip off her body harmlessly. "Really? Wow, you just upped my hate levels for gods." She quipped, the god's eyes widening as he felt his power slip off her. Internally, she was relieved. If it had been Hecate using her magic, Saber wasn't sure it the Anti-Magic would hold it back for more than a moment or two. But this guy wasn't even close to Hecate's level in terms of spell casting.

Chiron cut in before the confrontation could spiral out of control. "Annabeth?" he called, the blond girl stepping forward. Chiron introduced the two girls properly. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Sera. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Sera's bunk? We'll be putting her in cabin eleven for now." Now that she was awake, Saber could get a good look at the girl. An inch or so shorter than her with a deep tan and athletic build, she looked like a stereotypical California girl. Except for the eyes. They were storm gray; beautiful, but intimidating, even for her.

Saber cut in. "First off, Chiron. I haven't gone by Sera in seven years. It's Saber. End of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?" she looked between the four with a heated glare. "Secondly, what the hell makes you think I'm staying? I've known about this place for years, and never came here. You want to know why? Cause why the hell should I train to be a hero for the very gods that sent monsters to hunt me and my mother down? Why should I fight for the ones who let my mother be butchered right in front of me?" she glared at the god in question, who stared at her without shame.

"You're damned crazy if you think I'm going to stay in a place created by the people who've been trying to kill me for years. I appreciate the help, but as soon as I'm back to one hundred percent, I'm gone." She turned on her heel and started away, leaving the shocked centaur, satyr and camper in her dust. She needed to fight someone, anyone. So, she headed to the arena.

* * *

When she arrived, she was greeted with a sight that made her grin. The girl who owned the electric spear was there, fighting a bunch of wimpy-looking kids, the odds one on eight. Saber shook her head as she watched the daughter of the war god spin left and right, her long practice spear swinging and smacking kids left and right. Before long, all the kids were groaning in pain as they rolled around on the floor. The girl began walking in circles, harshly calling for another to try her. _Well since she asked so nicely…_ grinned Saber as she moved forward, drawing Clarent from its scabbard.

"I'll fight you," she called, causing everyone in the arena to turn to her. She was vaguely aware of Grover, Annabeth and Chiron approaching from behind. She hefted the silver long-sword and placed it over her shoulder as she gave a cocky grin that would've made Mordred herself proud. She came to a stop a few meters away from the girl. "The name's Saber. I'll be the one to knock you down a few pegs today."

The girl sneered, reminding Saber of a slightly more intimidating Nancy Bobofit. "Saber? What kind of name is that? You come up with it yourself?" the girl grinned malevolently, deciding the battle already won. Saber shrugged.

"Well, my birth name has a lot of bad memories attached to it, so I needed a new one," she quipped, lowering herself into a ready stance with a feral grin on her face. "So, who exactly am I fighting today? I'd like to know what name I carve into your headstone."

The girl blinked, set off by the feral grin on Saber's face, lowered herself into a crouch, her spear held up over her shield like a scorpion's tail. "Clarisse La Rue, Daughter of Ares."

Saber's grin widened, making the dark-haired girl look almost insane. "Well then, Daughter of Ares, get ready!" With that, she charged, bringing the shimmering silver blade to bare. _The girl is good,_ she decided quickly, _not many demigods can block my attacks. She must've improved a great deal over the last three years._ And Clarisse was doing well, her spear and shield lashing out to block Clarent at almost every attack, if just barely. It was impressive, even if Saber was holding back a great deal in order to keep the fight going long enough for her to vent her anger.

Clarisse couldn't get a strike in yet, but she was getting there. There was a lull in the fight. Clarisse was already breathing hard. Saber hadn't even broken a sweat. She grinned and took a few steps back, raising her free left arm and giving the war god's daughter then 'come get me' hand movement. The girl's face twisted into a snarl and charged, her spear singing thought the air as it stuck like a serpent. Saber kept dodging, waiting for the right moment and~…. _There!_ Her blade lashed out and cut the spear in two, continuing to cut through the bronze shield in Clarisse's left hand. As the spear shaft and two halves of the shield fell to the ground, Saber summoned a nameless bronze sword from the Greek era and tossed it to Clarisse. She heard the crowd gasp at her summoning, but she didn't care. This was the first demigod in a while that could keep up even a little bit in a fight.

The dark-haired girl stared at Saber in what could only be fear. Saber grinned again. _Time to really mess with her,_ she thought. "You've gotten better since the last time we fought," she called from her spot on in the battle ring, even as she called forth Mordred's armor. The fire in the girl's eyes reignited as the draconian armor materialized over Saber's body piece by piece, the memories of the ass-kicking she and her comrades suffered coming forth.

 _Let's see if she's more than just a battering ram…_ thought Saber as she watched the daughter of Ares from behind her helmet. Saber could hear the crowd murmuring, even as several more children of the war god jumped into the ring, wielding a Greek great-sword, a battle axe, some form of four tasseled whip, and a lance with black flames running along the tip. The Knight threw her head back and roared in laughter, before snapping her head to her five opponents.

"Finally!" she cried, hefting Clarent once more. "A fight against demigods that might just be worth my time!"

The Children of Ares all cried out as they charged the Knight, bringing a smile to the armored girl's face. _Let's do this._

 _ **Annabeth Chase**_

Annabeth was cursing the dark-haired girl. First, she doesn't even thank her for her part in helping her get back on her feet, then she says that she won't be staying very long, crushing Annabeth's dream to get back out into the world. She understood being angry at the gods. The girl had watched her mother get killed right in front of her while the gods did nothing to aid her. But that didn't give the girl the right to act the way she did. Though privately, the Daughter of Athena was praising the girl for talking to Dionysus the way she had. However, she was cursing once more as she, Chiron and Grover watched the girl go toe-to-toe with _five_ children of the War God all at once. As if the girl summoning a sword out of nothing to give Clarisse wasn't crazy enough, it turned out that she was the armored combatant that had brutally beaten Luke, Clarisse and Gregory on their quest three years ago.

Now here she was, going one against five and winning. Annabeth hadn't believed what the three had said about the warrior's skill in battle, but now she did. Even when clad in heavy silver armor and swinging around that massive silver weapon, the girl was dancing around like a hummingbird, weaving in and out of her opponents. The first of the five to go down was Brendan Laurence from Utah, the boy with the four-tasseled whip. Even with his extreme skill with the weapon, Se—Saber used it against him, allowing the boy to wrap the tassels around her metal-encased arm only to yank him off his feet and plant her metal-clad boot in his stomach, launching him into the far wall with a crash.

Next was Samuel Ogden from Pennsylvania, the boy with the Great-sword. Him, the girl simply grabbed the blade in his hands with her free left hand and crushed it with shocking ease, before pulling him close and smashing the pommel of her silver blade into his gut, sending him flying into the wall. As soon as he hit the ground, he was upchucking his lunch.

Laurel Williams from Washington state, the girl with the lance went down after that, her lance in pieces and her nose and possibly her jaw broken and bloodied. Finally, it was only Clarisse and James Krei left. James had come to them just after the LA Incident seven years before. He had seen the monsters tearing through civilians left and right. He had also seen all the monsters turned to dust as the pulse of gold-red energy had washed over them, killing them and severely injuring every other monster in the country. He was one of the strongest fighters Ares cabin had, just under Clarisse in strength and skill. He was often referred to as Clarisse's second in command. He was a master with his battle-axe, having trained day and night to be the best. The two remaining Ares kids circled Saber, the armored warrior – No. The Knight, this girl was a Knight. Saber stood quietly, her armored head turning right and left as she kept her eyes on her final opponents.

Annabeth watch Saber with a critical eye. The girl, while fighting almost like a berserker, wasn't just lashing out. She was taking them out one by one, taking their advantages away, granted she was doing it in the most brutal, chaotic way possible. Brendan had reach with that whip of his, so she had taken him out first, then Sam, who's great-sword gave him reach and power as well, along with being faster than a battle-axe. Laurel's lance was enchanted to steadily drain the strength of any opponent it cut, and its length gave her the reach to do it safely, or so she had thought, seeing as she'd now need to take a few days off to heal.

Saber was quite obviously a seasoned warrior, used to battling opponents more numerous and more powerful than herself. The girl had trained her body to push far beyond her physical limits to do battle against such combatants, but for what reason? It was obvious she fought for a cause, but what was the cause? It wasn't domination, she had defended Grover from bullies at Yancy and had fought the Minotaur whilst severely injured to protect him. So, what drove her? What could Annabeth say to get the Knight to stay?

A gasp brought her back to the fight as she saw that Saber was no longer wearing the heavy armor and her blade was stuck in the ground next to her. Instead, the girl was clad in some form of black body armor that exposed her toned stomach under a red overcoat and red skirt. In the girl's hands were a pair of falchions, one black, the other white. Annabeth nodded in approval. The knight's silver long-sword had been too big to use effectively against a battle axe of that size and Clarisse's Greek Xiphos. Speed was preferable in this situation.

And speed was exactly what she used, zipping across the arena to James in a blur of crimson fabric, skidding to a stop only to slash at him with a blur of black and white blades, moving so fast her arms were a blur. Within moments, James's axe was knocked out of his hands and both pommels of the blades were smashed against his temples, knocking him out cold, the teen falling to the ground in a limp.

Saber turned to Clarisse and grinned. Annabeth was shocked to see that the Head Councilor of Ares Cabin was shaking, obviously terrified of this new girl who had taken her impromptu team apart in moments. Saber moved forward slowly, stalking toward the child of Ares like a predator on the hunt. Clarisse seemed to shake herself and charged with a war cry. Saber grinned, which confused Annabeth as the xiphos blade moved to her neck. Then the most incredible thing happened. Almost as though the girl was a hologram, she seemed to fizzle out of existence, causing Clarisse to stumble. Everyone gasped in shocked and started looking around. Annabeth watch the battlefield for the new girl, and sure enough, the Black and White falchions embedded them in the ground on either side of Clarisse, drawing the girl's eyes up just as a pair of black combat boots smashed into her face, forcing her into the ground as Saber came down from above. Clarisse collapse, out cold as Saber stepped off the child of Ares and moved toward her long-sword, the white and black falchions fading as she moved. The Daughter of Athena's eyes widened as the new girl's clothes seemed to turn to smoke and changed back to the dark blue pants, black combat boots, red tank top and black jacket they'd found her in, minus the tears and blood stains.

The girl yanked the silver sword out of the ground and looked around the arena at the five unconscious warriors. Her face split into a smug grin. "Well that was a good warm up. Anyone else?"

 _ **Sera Jackson (Saber)**_

Saber knew she had gone a bit overboard. Honestly, she could've taken the Ares kids down easily, without destroying their weapons or beating them within an inch of their lives. She also hadn't needed to switch fighting styles, since she could've beaten the last two fighters just as easily using Mordred's armor and Clarent the way she had taken out the other three. She had just been so pissed at Chiron's assumption that she was going to stay in a place the gods had made to train their champions, she had lashed out and now five campers were in the healer's tent being cared for by the Apollo kids. Which was where she was heading right now. To apologize for taking her anger out on them. She had already summoned undamaged versions of the weapons she had destroyed, the girl's lance and that guy's great-sword. The Hephaestus kids had grumbled at her for wrecking the equipment beyond repair.

She reached the tent and knocked on the wood. She only waited for a moment before the flap of the tent was pulled back and a handsome guy with golden-blonde hair stepped out, his charming smile twisting into a disapproving scowl. Before he could say anything, she held up a hand.

"Yes, I know I probably shouldn't be here. I just came to make sure those kids are alright and to hand these over," she held up the undamaged weapons, "as a peace offering. I shouldn't have beaten them the way I did. I was just so angry at Chiron and Dionysus for assuming I was staying I lashed out at the first people I met."

The blond stared at her for a moment, his eyes searching her sheepish face, before smiling softly. "Don't worry too much about it. I'm Lee, by the way. Lee Fletcher. Head of Apollo Cabin. We're the ones who fixed your arm after your tango with the Kindly One and—" he cut himself off as Saber's face twisted into an almost feral snarl.

"Don't ever call them that." She snarled, her rage boiling to the surface. "Call them what they are. Monsters."

He reeled back at her snarl, the anger on her face more than obvious. He waited while she took several deep breathes. "Right. Monster then. Never did understand who decided to call them Kindly Ones anyways." He said carefully.

Saber cursed and shook her head, looking to the ground as she attempted to rein in her anger. "No, it's fine. Call them whatever. I just have a really bad experience with those things."

He nodded in understanding. "Totally get it. You'll find more than a few people who lost someone to the monsters before they got here." He watched her quietly for a few moments before nodding. "And I think I know why you flipped. You hate the gods, don't you?"

Her head snapped up as he ousted her. "That obvious, huh?"

He chuckled a bit. "Just a little bit. I get it. You blame the gods for whatever happened to you, and you think this place is to train their champions. You flipping out is totally understandable. But it's more than that." His face turned wistful as he looked out over the fields, at the campers and satyrs going about their business. "This place is a home for those of us who have nowhere else to go. A place to be safe. It's the only good thing the gods did for a lot of us. You don't have to fight for them if you stay here. Just…fight for the kids who call this place home, or fight to prove you're not a pawn in their games."

Saber's face turned thoughtful as she looked over the camp grounds. In a way, Lee was right. She hated the gods, with every fiber of her being, in the exception of Artemis of course. But this place…it was different. None of the godly arrogance, past the portly god who she was certain was Dionysus of course. It could be a place worth fighting for.

Lee smiled at her thoughtful expression and took the undamaged weapons from her, causing her to look back at him. "I'll make sure Sam and Laurel get these and let them know that you're sorry. You have something else to deal with." He motioned with his head over her shoulder and retreated into the tent.

Saber turned around to see Annabeth coming toward her, looking like a teacher about to scold her. Saber sighed and moved toward her. As with Lee, she cut Annabeth off before she could start berating her or whatever it was the girl was going to do.

"Before you say anything, I already apologized for beating them up so badly. I was just angry is all."

Annabeth frown. "I wasn't going to scold you. I wanted to talk to you, if you'll walk with me?" she sounded almost hesitant. Saber sighed. Anyone would be hesitant to get close to her after what had happened not ten minutes before hand. She nodded and followed as Annabeth led the way down to the edge of the water. They sat in silence for several minutes, Saber having taken off her boots to put her feet in the water while Annabeth leaned against a tree, watching the girl quietly. The blonde nearly jumped out of her skin when Saber spoke up, her eyes closed in bliss and a smug grin on her face.

"If you have questions, you're welcomed to ask. I don't bite…much" the girl said with mirth in her voice.

Annabeth shook her head in annoyance and sighed. "You fought like a berserker back there, but you also fought with skill and strategy. It got me thinking…what do you fight for?"

Saber cracked a sea-green eye open, pinning the girl with a critical look. "What do you mean by that?"

Annabeth swallowed. She was obviously trying to ask without pissing her off. "Anyone who trains as hard as you obviously do to be able to move the way you do needs to have something pushing them forward. A cause or a dream. Grover told us that you preferred to be a loner when you first arrived at Yancy, but didn't hesitate to step in and look after him when people started bullying him. So, what exactly are you fighting for?"

Saber grinned wistfully as she looked away from Annabeth and out across the Long Island Sound. Several minutes passed as Saber considered the pros and cons of telling her the truth. She made her decision.

"A dream," said the black-haired girl quietly, so quietly that Annabeth had to strain to hear her. "I fight for a single dream, a wish if you will. To be the one to push the monsters back into the pit they crawled out of once and for all, never to return."

She looked to the blonde, and Annabeth looked to be quite surprised to see tears in the corners of the girl's eyes even as the girl gave a bright smile.

"Not for glory or revenge," Saber continued. "But so that no one ever has to go through the pain I did, so long ago. That's why I fight. To save the future generation from suffering the way I did."

Annabeth looked shock, which made Saber laugh.

"Weren't expecting that were you? I know I can come across as vulgar, rude, prideful and sometimes just a bit self-centered. But I do care about what happens to others…even if I have a hard time showing it." Saber cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "Y'know what? I think I will hang around for a while. This place seems like it has potential to be more than the gods made it. I'd like to see if it can actually get there."

Annabeth seemed to be beyond surprised. Saber didn't comment on it and instead looked out over the water with a smile. "I've always loved the ocean. So beautiful…always helped me clear my head when I was angry or confused." She shook her head and stood up, slipping her feet into her boots as she did before she turned to the blond next to her. "Come on, let's go talk to Chiron."


	6. Chapter 4: Songs, CTF, Claimed

_**Chapter Four: Songs, Capture the Flag, Claimed**_

Chiron had been pleased to hear that Saber had changed her mind, though he had apologized both for assuming she'd be staying originally and for not using 'Saber' rather than 'Sera'. He had asked Annabeth to put her in Cabin Eleven. Out of all the cabins around the camp, eleven looked the most like an average summer camp lodge, the threshold worn down and the light brown paint peeling. The door was emblazoned with a winged pole with a pair of snakes wrapped around it. A caduceus. She pushed open the door.

Inside, it was packed with boys and girls both, way more people inside than there were bunkbeds. There were sleeping bags spread across the floor, making it look like a gym that the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center. Once the door had opened, the occupants had waved to Annabeth excitedly right up until they noticed Saber standing just behind her with her arms up behind her head. They had all paled, making Saber scoff, already regretting deciding to stay. But she was a woman of her word. She said she'd stay and that's what she was going to do.

"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."

Saber shook her head and stepped over the threshold. As she did, many of the campers locked their eyes onto the silver blade strapped across her back. Yes, she could've let the blade fade back into her UBW, but she liked feeling the weight of the weapon when she moved about.

"Saber, meet cabin eleven." Annabeth announced, making the dark-haired girl smirk.

"R-regular or undetermined?" someone toward the center stuttered out.

Saber didn't know what that was supposed to mean, which had her turning to Annabeth in confusion. The blond sighed. "Undetermined."

Everyone groaned, earning a confused expression from Saber.

A familiar face stepped forward, a young man a bit older than all the rest came forward.

"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Saber. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there." The guy was about nineteen. He was tall and muscular with short-cropped sandy hair. He had a hesitant friendly smile on. He wore an orang tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. A thick white scar ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.

"This is Luke," Annabeth said, though her voice sounded different. Saber looked over and could've sworn the girl was blushing. She spotted Saber watching and her expression hardened. "He's your counselor for now."

Saber looked Luke up and down. She couldn't help but snort in amusement. "Aren't you the guy I beat up three years ago?"

As Luke's face turned bright red, Saber let out a bark of laughter. "Oh damn, you are! The only one of your little group to actually make me let loose a little in a fight." Her grin turned thoughtful. "We were both after that two headed Drakon, weren't we?"

With a sigh, Luke nodded. "Yeah, that was me. We had to come home empty handed because of you."

Saber rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Sorry about that. There was a bounty out on that thing, with a ridiculous number of zeros on the contract, so I couldn't really pass it up. I still have a bit of drachma from that kill, if you want any."

Luke looked a bit surprised, but he shook his head. "Not necessary. You beat all three of us fair and square and killed the Drakon on your own. You keep what you kill and all that."

She shrugged.

Luke went on. "Anyways, you'll stay here until you've been determined. They don't know where to put you right now, so you'll be here until then. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travel."

Saber looked down at the tiny section of floor they'd given her and shrugged to herself. She had a sleeping bag that Chiron had given her, and the box with the Minotaur's horn in it. Looking up, she saw that some of the campers were grinning stupidly, some eyeing her as if they were waiting to pick her pockets. She decided to put an end to that.

"Okay, listen up. I'm aware that Hermes is also the god of thieves, so heads up. You take anything of mine without me specifically giving it to you? Well…" reaching over her shoulder, she yanked Clarent out of its scabbard and slammed the blade into the floor, resting her hands on the pommel. "Let's just say, my little display in the arena will look like a warm-up compared to what I'll do to you."

She looked over the now scared faces of the campers "Translation: Hands off my stuff." She finished with a feral grin. The campers all gulped as one, making her laugh as she yanked her sword out of the ground and slipped it back into her scabbard.

"Come on," Annabeth told Saber. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

Saber opened her mouth to tell her that they'd already seen it, but the blond just grabbed her wrist and dragged her out the door.

Once they were a few feet away, Annabeth spoke. "Well, that went better than expected."

Saber scowled. "And how exactly did you expect it to go?"

She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath. "You better be the one, otherwise I might stab you."

"What's your problem?" Saber was getting angry now, which wasn't good. "All I did was kill the Mr. Bull Head –"

"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth snapped. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"Had my chance? My chance to do what? Get killed by something that shattered my arm?"

"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"

Saber scowled. "It's a monster, it'll come back. I've fought the same damn Drakon six times in the past three years. They'll get their chance."

Annabeth scowled herself. "That's not the point. Most of the kids wish they could've done what you did. Killed one of the most dangerous Kindly Ones around with a broken arm and –"

She was cut off as Saber grabbed her by the front of her orange shirt and slammed her into a nearby tree, her sea-green eyes turning dark blue, almost like the ocean during a hurricane. "Don't _**EVER**_ call a monster a 'Kindly One'! There is _**NOTHING**_ kind about them!" Saber roared, her hand wrapped around Annabeth's neck. "They are nothing but monsters that want to tear us demigods apart. The only reason I survived the Minotaur is because I'm not like the rest of you. I trained all day every day for seven years, pushing myself beyond what any normal mortal or demigod is capable of so I could hunt and kill monsters." Annabeth scrabbled at Saber's hand as it wrapped tighter around her throat. "If anyone here had gone up against that thing, they'd be dead."

Saber breathed heavily until she noticed Annabeth turning purple from lack of air. She quickly pulled her hand away, the blond gasping for air as she collapsed to her knees. Saber stared at the blond in horror at what she'd almost done. _I almost killed her…_

Saber had made an oath years before, just after she had started to see Kalie as a sister. One that she had never gotten even close to breaking: _I shall never kill any who do not deserve death. Those who willingly kill the innocent are fair game, but no one else shall die by my hand._

"I- I- I didn't…" she stuttered as she looked around, just then noticing the crowd she'd attracted. She did the only thing she could think off. She turned and ran.

 _ **Annabeth Chase**_

Annabeth winced as Lee lightly pressed his fingers against the bruise on her throat.

"Well, nothings broken. You're lucky. If she'd held on for any longer, you wouldn't be able to talk for a few weeks that or you would've been dead from lack of oxygen. As it stands, you'll have a sore neck for the next day or so," said Lee as he backed off, moving to his small desk as she rubbed her throat. Annabeth had been so surprised at Saber's reaction to what they called the monsters that she hadn't even been able to call out when the girl had run off.

"So, what did you do?" Lee's voice broke through her thoughts, making her look up.

"I didn't do anything. I was just explaining about the Kindly Ones and she freaked out." Annabeth said crossly.

Lee sighed and shook his head. "That's just it. She hates what we call them. And who can blame her. She's seen more battle than any of us here, killed more monsters than any of us can ever know. She's seen the worst they have to offer, and our rather ironic name for them is like a trigger for all the anger she has built up inside of her."

Annabeth nearly smacked herself in the forehead. _I completely forgot what she said about her mother! Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ She started cursing herself in Latin. After her little curse fest, she looked to Chiron, who was standing silently at the entrance to the tent. "Has anyone spotted her yet?" she rasped.

Chiron shook his head. "No, and for good reason. She's stayed hidden her whole life without any of us noticing until she started attending Yancy. She doesn't want to be found" He looked conflicted. "We should've talked to her more, gotten a feel of how she would react to certain things."

Lee spoke up. "I was going to pass the word around not to use the phrase Kindly Ones around her, but this happened before I could." He shook his head. "I can't even imagine what she must've seen…to make her react like that"

Annabeth was about to respond when a commotion started up on the other side of the tent. It sounded like a rather one-sided fight, an assumption that was proven correct when she heard Saber's voice.

"Get out of my way!" She sounded both pissed and desperate all at once. "I need to make sure she's alright!"

Annabeth was surprised that Saber was so worried about her, considering she had set her off to begin with.

"Not on your life fre— OOF!" Clarisse went flying past them, nearly hitting Chiron on her way out of the tent. In a split second, Saber was rushing through the back flap of the tent, Lee wisely getting out of her way as she moved to Annabeth's side. The look of guilt and worry in her eyes confused the Daughter of Athena to no end.

The warrior's calloused fingers brushed against her throat with a surprisingly gentle touch. The heavy guilt in the girl's eyes lightened ever so slightly as the sight of Annabeth's small bruise. Saber sighed in relief and to Annabeth's surprise, leaned her head against the blonde's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry…" Saber whispered. "I was just so angry…I didn't mean to hurt you."

Annabeth was shocked when she felt something wet hit her hand, and she looked down to see a tear. Saber was crying.

Not stopping to think, she pulled the black-haired girl into a tight hug. "It's my fault. I've been so eager to get out of here, to see the world beyond the camp that I didn't stop to think about what you might've suffered beyond those borders. I'm sorry."

Saber was looking less like the warrior they'd seen in the arena and more like a scared thirteen-year-old as she shook her head. "That's no excuse. I swore I'd never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it…but I nearly killed you." She whimpered.

Annabeth looked up to Lee and Chiron and mouthed for them to back off. They nodded and quietly moved away, leaving the Daughter of Athena with the unclaimed Half-Blood. She sighed. She wasn't the best with human interaction. Hell, she could barely talk to Luke anymore with blushing and stuttering like an idiot. Now she was dealing with a girl who had dealt with way more anyone her age should have. So instead of talking, Annabeth just held Saber, letting the girl cry for about half an hour.

Once Saber's tears finally dried up, she sat up and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that. Guess I'm not as strong as I thought."

Annabeth shook her head. "You're stronger than most of the people here. You know better than anyone, baring Chiron, what's out there. Anyone lesser than that would've broken a long time ago."

Saber nodded tiredly, causing Annabeth to look at her watch. It was only about six, but the girl had woken up from her fight with the Minotaur only to go and fight five on one and then had a melt-down a short time later. No wonder she was tired.

"Come on." She said, pulling Saber to her feet as she stood. "You need to get some sleep before dinner."

Saber nodded again, eyes drooping sleepily. Annabeth quickly led her out of the tent and toward cabin eleven. Once inside, she laid the girl on her sleeping bag and pinned the residents with a glare.

"Anyone messes with her while she's sleeping, and you answer to me." She warned. The cabin nodded. She smirked and left, casting one last glance to the girl passed out on the floor. She didn't look like a warrior anymore. She looked like a kid.

 _ **Sera Jackson (Saber)**_

Once Saber had woken up an hour later, she felt terrible. Not just for nearly killing Annabeth, but for crying like a baby in front of her. She was supposed to be an unshakable warrior, not a whimpering child. Several of the cabin eleven kids tried asking what had happen. They had quickly backed off when she reached for Clarent, her face twisted into a angry snarl. In the distance, a conch horn blew. She had heard a conch horn before, during the few times she'd been at the beach during some college party.

Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"

The whole cabin, about twenty in all, filed into the commons yard. She was dead last, since she was the newbie. Technically she knew who her dad was, she just didn't want anyone to know it. They marched up the hill to the dining pavilion. Satyrs joined them from the meadow, Naiads emerged from the lake and a few dryads walked out of the woods. She knew they were dryads from hanging around Kalie for several years. By the time people had stopped trickling in, there were about a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs and a dozen Wood Nymphs and Naiads in all.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven was beyond overcrowded. Saber opted for standing rather than hanging off the table. So instead she leaned against the pillar just behind the cabin eleven table.

She could see Grover sitting at the twelfth table with Dionysus, a few other satyrs and a couple of plump blond guys who looked just like the wine god. They all stood just to the side with Chiron, the table being far too small for the Centaur.

Annabeth sat at a table with a bunch of serious looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and golden blond hair.

Clarisse, the girl she had humiliated earlier in the day, had apparently gotten over the ass-kicking, since she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.

Chiron stomped his hoof against the marble that made up the floor of the pavilion and everyone fell silent. He raised his goblet. "To the gods!" he cried.

Everyone echoed him, though Saber only scowled and scoffed earning glares from several of the campers.

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food, fruits cheeses, freshly baked bread, and barbecue. The last one made her mouth water. Saber smiled at the nymph that handed her the plate of meat and thanked her. The tree spirit had blushed bright green and scurried off. Her goblet was empty, but Luke said from his seat at the head of Cabin Eleven's table, "Speak to it. Whatever you want – nonalcoholic, of course."

She nodded and looked to her cup. "Mountain Dew."

The goblet filled with the bright green soft drink. Saber took a sip, pleasantly surprise that it was cold as ice. Perfect.

She raised her cup and made a toast to her ancestors and to her mother, the woman who had given her life to defend her. She missed her like nothing else. It was a hole in her heart, one that would probably never go away. But she'd see her again. Saber had long since accepted that she would probably die one day soon. Either on the battlefield or from disease, she really didn't know.

She went to take a bite of her barbecue, but stopped when she spotted campers getting up with their still full plates and headed to the brazier. She scoffed again and started eating. _Offerings to the gods,_ she thought sourly, ignoring the glares she was getting from the campers. _No way am I wasting perfectly good food just to honor those bastards._

Once everybody had sat down once more, Chiron stomped his hoof once more, causing everyone to look up from their food.

Dionysus got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats." Saber growled at his words, causing several campers to look at her worriedly. The growl had come out as a deep rumble, a side effect from Mordred and Arturia both having the blood of dragons and passing it down to her. Mr. D ignored her. "Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says that the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin Five currently holds the laurels."

A bunch of cheers erupted from the Ares kids.

"Personally, I couldn't care less." Mr. D said. "But congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Sarah Johnson."

A crimson spear embedded itself in the wall right next to the god's head. Everyone turned to see Saber scowling, an army's worth of weapons floating behind her, all of them pointed at the chubby god's head. "The name is Saber," she growled, the weapons twitching ever so slightly as they reacted to her anger. "Mess it up again, and I'll put one of these through your eye. God or not, that'll still hurt like a bitch."

Mr. D cleared his throat as the weapons vanished one by one, the spear vanishing last. "Right then, Ms. Saber. Now, run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everyone cheered, though most kept their eyes on the warrior from the arena. Once they had all headed down to the amphitheater, Apollo led the sing-along. The music was terrible, all about the gods. She couldn't handle it so she snuck away, nabbing a guitar as she went. Before long, she was sitting down by the beach, strumming the cords in a familiar tune. She didn't care that it wasn't about the gods, it was a song she loved. She began to sing to herself.

 _Hoping you take that jump,_

 _But don't fear the fall._

 _Hope when the water rises,_

 _You built a wall._

Saber's voice carried back to the amphitheater, where the campers were roasting marshmallows. At first, they didn't realize it was her. Not until they started quietly filing down to the waterfront.

 _Hoping the crowd screams out,_

 _Screaming your name._

 _Hope if everybody runs,_

 _You choose to stay!_

The campers exchanged glances as they listened to Saber's music. Some were starting to bob their heads to the tune. Several Apollo kids carefully started beating on some drums and playing other guitars

 _Hope that you fall in love,_

 _But it hurts so bad._

 _The only way you can know,_

 _You give it all you have._

All the campers were now listening to the girl's elegant voice echo over the water. A certain blond was rather surprised the warrior who had cried on her shoulder could sing so well.

 _And I hope that you don't suffer,_

 _But take the pain,_

 _Hope when the moment comes,_

 _You'll say..._

Everyone started clapping as the music picked up, Saber was too invested in her song to notice, even when the Apollo kids started playing their instruments and singing right next to her. I did it all

 _I~ I did it all!_

 _I~_

Everyone was stomping their feet and dancing to the beat. Even the Ares kids were in on it, despite not liking the newcomer at all from that morning.

 _Hope that you spend your days,_

 _But they all add up,_

 _And when the sun goes down,_

 _Hope your raise your cup._

 _I wish that i could witness,_

 _All your joy and all your pain._

 _But until my moment comes, I'll say..._

 _I~ I did it all!_

 _I~_ _I did it all!_

 _I owned every second that this world could give_ _,_

 _I saw so many places, the things that I did,_

 _Yeah, with every broken bone, I swear I lived._

 _Oh whoa oh oh oh oh_

 _Oh whoa oh oh oh oh_

 _Oh whoa oh oh oh oh_

 _Oh whoa oh oh oh oh_

 _With every broken bone,_

 _I swear I lived!_

 _With every broken bone,_

 _I swear I lived!_

The song came to a stop with slowly fading cords, and it was only then that Saber noticed her audience. She turned to the campers and went bright red as they started cheering, the Apollo kids clapping her on the back good-naturedly. She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. The only people she had ever played for was Kalie and a few of the homeless around Central Park whenever she stopped by. Several of the campers asked if she was a child of Apollo, but she shot the idea down, saying she didn't know, but seeing as she wasn't a natural at singing nor at archery, she was pretty sure she wasn't. That seemed to stay their curiosity for now.

* * *

The next few days started to feel like school, though a bit more fun. In the mornings, she started learning how to read, write and speak Ancient Greek with Annabeth, since before she only had a broken knowledge of the language. The rest of the day, she'd rotate through several different exercises. Chiron tried to teach her archery, but she'd been doing it for so long, that she really couldn't learn anything new. That and she had tested out her arrowfied version of Caladbolg. Turned out, turning the drill-like sword into an arrow created a mini-nuke. Chiron had calmly put out the fire on his tail and given her a stern look.

Foot racing? She'd had plenty of practice running for her life or chasing down monsters. It ended up being a friendly contest between her and the wood-nymph instructors. It usually ended up in a tie.

Wrestling she had in the bag. You try wrestling a cyclops when you both just fell into a vat of cooking grease. **_THAT_** was a challenge. She had pinned Clarisse in two seconds flat.

Naturally, she excelled at the water-based skills, like canoeing, diving, fishing, etc. though she made sure to dull down her skill, making it seem as though she'd just had a lot of practice, rather than it was part of her divine heritage.

She was more than aware that the older campers were trying to figure out who her godly parent was, but she wasn't making it easy. By that point, only way they would figure it out was if Poseidon walked out of the water and held a neon sign over her head saying 'This is my daughter" of course that would put him in range of her fists.

She was stronger than the Ares kids from having to fight things anywhere from three to twenty times her size. She'd had five years to perfect her bow skills, even if she still preferred the blade. And her Ultimate Blade Works made her a master at understanding metal working. Suffice to say, the senior campers and Chiron were a bit miffed they couldn't figure it out.

Despite her initial problems with the camp, she was actually enjoying herself. She loved walking along the shore in the mornings, letting the morning mist wash over her, bringing the smell of the sea along with it. She loved picking strawberries from the fields when no one was looking. She even spent time in the stables when the Aphrodite kids were gone, talking to the horses and pegasi, sneaking them apples and sugar cubes every time. She still didn't try and honor the gods at supper, which made many of the campers rather cross with her. She kept singing at night, different songs from different artists. That made everyone happy before bed, and it made her feel close to her mother. Sally had often sung to her before bed.

Thursday afternoon, she was grinning to herself as she headed to the arena for a sword-fighting lesson. She had tied Clarent into her scabbard, leaning the blade against the stands as she summoned a well-balanced xiphos to use for training. She had to hold back of course, since the full measure of her strength was reserved for Big-League monsters. (Though she had cursed herself for letting herself be caught off guard by the bull man.)

When it came time to partner up, Luke announced he would be fighting her. She had grinned, seeing as their last fight had lasted a little over three minutes. Though she hadn't been nearly as skilled nor as powerful back then. It would be a piece of cake. The other campers started placing bets on who'd win. Most bet that Luke would win, primarily because they knew him, and Saber respected that. However, plenty bet on her due to her show of skill against five children of Ares. She had even placed a bet: she'd win but she'd learn something new from Luke. She had walked away from that lesson over a hundred drachma the richer.

The day of the Capture the Flag match, Saber was sitting at the pier with Grover, having just finished the lava climbing wall. The satyr had scrambled up like a mountain goat, with Saber right on his tail, using her absurd strength and agility to bounce up after him. They were talking about this and that, finally working around to the four empty cabins. She'd worked out most of it, but she needed a few things cleared up.

Turned out that the silver cabin belonging to Artemis was honorary only, since Artemis didn't have kids. Same with Hera's cabin, since being the goddess of marriage, she didn't go around having affairs with mortals like her husband. The other two empty cabins belonged to Zeus and Poseidon, both of which had been empty since WWII, since the Big Three had sworn on the River Styx to never have children again, seeing as demigods born of them were too powerful. The closet Zeus's cabin had come to being filled was seventeen years before, when Zeus sired a daughter, Thalia. The poor girl had suffered greatly from her father breaking his oath, powerful monsters hunting her all over the country.

 _Just like me…_ Saber thought sadly. Thalia hadn't deserved her fate, being killed at the top of Half-Blood Hill to save her friends. She should've been with her friend instead. All the story did was make Saber even angrier at the gods than before. They knew they all had a bad habit of not being able to keep it in their pants, but still they made that oath, and put their kids in danger because of it. _I LOST MY MOTHER BECAUSE OF THOSE BASTARDS!_ She roared in her mind, rage filling her like fire in her blood. Grover stared at her as she tried to calm herself, having noticed that the water beneath them had started getting choppy. She needed to hit something.

Luckily for her, CTF was after dinner and Saber was raring to go, decked in full armor with Clarent clamped to her back as she stood at her usual spot against the pillar, her helmet over her face, scaring the nymphs. She felt bad for that. But after what Grover had told her about Thalia, she needed to vent. Once the plates were carried away, the conch horn blew and the campers stood from their tables.

They yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a glistening gray, silk banner about ten feet long, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. Across the pavilion, Clarisse and her siblings ran in with a banner of the same size, but painted blood red with a bloody spear and boars head on the banner. Luke explained that Hermes had sided with Athena and Apollo cabins, while Ares had gotten Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. All of which were pretty athletic. Mr. D's kids were pretty fit, and could run for a while without slowing. Demeter kids had control over nature, so fighting them in the forest would give them the advantage, even with her stats. Aphrodite kids were athletic as well, and most had a type of allure that threw off their opponents, while some like their counselor Silena Beauregard, a pretty girl with long, wavy black hair, tanned skin and silver-blue eyes, could use something called Charm-Speak to convince their victims to do just about anything. Luckily, several monsters had a similar skill, so Saber was safe from that power. The Hephaestus kids were going to be a problem. Due to them working in the forges all day, they were physically strong, and their skill with metal-working and using their weapons was almost unmatched. It would be a hard fight.

Chiron stomped his hoof on the marble, getting everyone's attention.

"Heroes!" he called. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He waved his hands and the tables were covered with weapons and armor, all of which Saber ignored, preferring her own equipment. Annabeth approached her.

"Saber," she said with a nod as she approached, one that the armored Knight returned. "I want you to be the tip of the spear. You're easily the strongest and most skilled combatant on the team, you'll need to punch through their defenses and cause enough havoc for us to get the flag without being noticed."

Saber grinned under her helmet. "Causing havoc? I can do that. Any words of advice, ma'am?" she asked with a respectful nod. It made Annabeth smile.

The blond shook her head. "No, just draw them to you. Clarisse will want pay back for the arena, use that to your advantage. Take out as many as you can. Once you see the flare, clear a path for us so we can get to the creek."

Saber nodded and moved to the front of the team, the warriors splitting to let the Knight pass. She drew Clarent and waited for the order. Without a word, she activated the King of Knights more obscure ability, The Lion's Heart. It was a skill that bolstered a king's forces, making them braver and giving them a boost in physical and emotional strength. Many a battle was won or lost on moral alone, and Saber intended to win.

Annabeth stepped forward and raised her sword, "Blue team, forward!"

They all cheered, banging their weapons on their shields or armor before following the Daughter of Athena. Saber took the lead, her team following close behind as they moved to cut off Red Team as they headed toward the south woods. Saber cursed to herself. Red Team had chosen the battlefield, which meant they would likely have surprises in store for them. She said as much to those following her.

"Alright, the enemy has the advantage here, so we need an advantage of our own." She looked to the Apollo kids. "You all get into the trees and act as snipers. Don't stay in one spot for too long or the Demeter kids will get a bead on you." Turning to Hermes cabin, she said. "All of you, use whatever skills you possess. Hermes kids, search for traps and the like, we'll need to take those out fast. If you've got magic, then use it to cover us from afar. The rest of you with me. We'll punch right through their lines and keep their attention on us while Annabeth and the Athena kids get the flag."

She raised Clarent high, the silver blade shimmering in the moonlight. "CHARGE!"

Those following her into the skirmish screamed battle-cries as they charged. Her plan worked. Those with her, while small in number, were the strongest front-line fighters they had. Archers rained trap arrows down from above, while magic flew by their heads, turning enemy troops to various livestock. And then there was Saber herself, silver blade flashing as she knocked through the enemy lines. When she attacked, Saber ensured to either smack her opponents with the flat of her blade, or strike at the strongest sections of their armor. Within moments, half the enemy team was on the ground, groaning in pain.

The Demeter kids had been taken out by the Hermes kids, the sneaky bastards moving silently and nabbing the farmers from behind at the beginning of the battle, thankfully making it so Saber didn't have to worry too much about getting tangled up by the grass or tree roots. The four Hephaestus kids had ganged up on her at once early on. It had taken her a few minutes due to her still holding back a fair bit of her full strength, but she put them on the ground with minimal injury. Aphrodite kids had taken to manipulating her team into fighting each other, though when they had tried their allure and Charm-Speak on her, she had simply channeled her power into Clarent, letting the blade glow with crimson energy. They had surrendered immediately after that.

That was when Ares cabin showed up, Clarisse at the head of their attack, her long spear cackling with energy. By then, they had fought their way to the creek, so the water flowed over Saber's boots, filling her with energy. She grinned beneath her helm and raised her blade, calling out the children of Ares.

"Come, Children of War!" she cried as her own troops fell back. "Let me see the strength of Ares!"

The whole of the cabin charged, and Saber fell into the age-old dance of War. She dodged and parried, blocked and slashed, each swing of her weapon sending her opponents flying. Soon it was just Clarisse standing against her, electric spear held high. They clashed, Spear vs Sword. Clarisse had obviously been training as hard as she could to try and best Saber, because they were almost evenly matched, even though Saber was holding back a great deal to keep from killing anyone. Soon, they locked weapons, pushing against one another. A high-pitched wail filled the air, making Saber's head snap up. A bright blue flare was screaming across the forest sky. _Way to go Annabeth,_ she thought with a grin. _Now it's my turn._

Saber pushed Clarisse back a step, then planted her boot in the girl's stomach, sending her flying back. Not giving her a chance to recover, she raised her blade, Clarent's power vents opening. Her helm retracted as she dug into her rage, while at the same time focusing on all force, not explosive energy. Her blade raised high, she pushed her anger and hate into her sword. Her face split into a snarl and in Greek, shouted " _Klarént ... Aíma ... Árthour!_ " Clarent Blood Arthur. Clarent's Noble Phantasm.

She swung the blade downward, the ocean of crimson energy spilling out from the blade, blasting a path through the enemy, all of whom were knocked aside. Blue team cheered as Luke charged past, red banner held high. Before Red team could recover from Clarent's Noble Phantasm, Luke had leaped over the creek and landed on the other side, the banner shimmering silver before the boar head and bloody spear were replaced with a huge blue caduceus. The symbol of Cabin eleven. Saber smiled as Blue team picked up Luke and set him on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out and blew his conch horn. They had won. She would've joined them, but her legs gave out at that point and she collapsed, Clarent stuck in the ground to keep her from face-planting. Her armor faded, leaving her in her normal clothes. Sweat beaded her brow, her breath was ragged. She needed more practice with the Noble Phantasms her weapons possessed.

"You okay?" Annabeth's voice called out of thin air. The air shimmered and there she stood, holding a Yankee's baseball cap in her hand. Saber nodded tiredly.

"Need more practice with that. I'll probably pass out here in a minute." She said tiredly as she tried to regain her strength

Everything fell silent as a rumbling growl split the air. Saber stiffened, her blood running cold. _Now?! Really!? Damn it, I'm not strong enough yet!_

A snarl had her head snapping to the right. There on the rocks, a massive hound the size of a rhino stood, lave red eyes locked on Saber. A hell-hound. One problem: Annabeth was in its path, bronze dagger raised defensively.

The beast lunged, and Saber pushed the Daughter of Athena out of the way. The massive hound collided with her, its claws carving into the flesh of her shoulder. Clarent was knocked from her hand. They hit the water, her head going under even as energy poured into her body. She grabbed the monster by the throat, her iron grip crushing its neck even as Chiron filled its side with arrows. With a snarl, she reached up and twisted the hounds head, snapping its neck even as she pushed it off her, pushing herself up with a gasp of air to keep up the facade of not being Poseidon's daughter. The hound fell to the bank and melted into shadow. Saber could feel the injury on her shoulder, the blood oozing from the wound. However, even as she stood, she could feel it closing. She kept her hand over it, willing it to stay open for a bit longer.

" _Di immortals!_ " Annabeth exclaimed. "That's a hell-hound. From the Fields of Punishment. They don't…they're not supposed to…"

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said, his face pale. "Someone inside the camp."

Luke walked over, the banner in his hand, moment of glory snatched away.

Clarisse spoke up. "It's all Saber's fault! She summoned it!"

Saber snarled at the girl. "I kill monsters, I don't summon them."

Saber moved out of the water and nearly collapsed as her strength fled from her. She groaned as she sat against a tree, cursing for wasting her Noble Phantasm on a stupid game when a monster appeared only a moment later. Annabeth cursed in Greek, saying something about idiot girls and crows as she filled her canteen with water and moved to Saber's side.

"Let me clean the wound," she said, pinning Saber with a stormy eyed gaze. As much as Saber didn't want to let anyone know her godly lineage, she just couldn't say no to the wise girl. She nodded and removed her hand, the blood flowing freely now, a river of red pouring from the gashes. The instant the water touched her flesh, Saber felt her strength return. She heard several of the campers, including Annabeth, gasp as the wound began to close as water ran over the gashes. She tried to catch Annabeth's eyes, to say she was sorry for hiding it, but no one was looking at her wounds anymore. They were staring above her head. Saber followed their gazes to see a hologram of green light, floating above her head. A three tipped spear: a trident. Spinning and gleaming above her head, she cursed.

"Well, fuck you too, dad." She growled as she pushed herself up.

"Your father…" Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."

"Oh, ya think?" Saber snapped.

"It is determined," Chiron said, bowing to the warrior girl.

All around her, the campers began to kneel, even Ares cabin, though frankly they looked like they'd rather eat horse-shit.

"Poseidon." Chiron intoned solemnly. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Seraphina Jackson, Saber. Daughter of the Sea God."

Saber threw her head back and groaned to the sky. "You fucking hate me, don't ya old man?"

* * *

 _ **AN: Okay, so just to clarify I own nothing but this story.**_

 _ **Song: I lived by One Republic**_


	7. Chapter 5: Quests

_**Chapter Five: Quests**_

To say that Saber was pissed off would be a massive understatement. Just as she had started getting used to living with the Cabin Eleven kids, her dead-beat god of a father threw a stone at her head. She had argued vehemently with Chiron for over two hours about moving her to Cabin Three: Poseidon Cabin. In the end, he won, the rules were rules, all that bullshit.

She refused to sit at cabin three's table at dinner, preferring to stay at her pillar next to cabin eleven. It had calmed her former cabin mates a little bit, though not by much. She kept cursing Poseidon. She had finally started feeling as normal as she could've being who she was, and the bastard had ruined that for her, just like he had ruined everything else in her life.

Nobody mentioned what had happened with the hellhound. She figured they were probably talking about it behind her back. The first person to try and talk to her about it had come along while she was busy demolishing the training arena in a fit of rage, all while cursing her father's name as she switched between Clarent, The Married Blades, several of her spears and plenty of her daggers. The attack had proven two things: that she was the Daughter of the Sea God, and that monsters would stop at nothing to get to her.

Of course, the CTF match had also proven that she was a decent battlefield commander, and a beast on the field of battle, seeing as once the team was under her command, they had taken Red Team apart with minimal injuries. That and she was a powerhouse, Clarent's Noble Phantasm making many avoid her in the training yard, once she'd calmed down a fair bit. Luke trained with her the most.

"I know you've got more experience than anyone here," he'd say as they crossed blades. "But you're going to need as much training as possible. Now let's do fifty more repetitions on that viper-beheading strike."

Saber wasn't afraid to admit she learned a thing or two from the demigod.

Annabeth still taught her Greek, but she was distracted. Every time Saber opened her mouth to ask her a question, the girl's stormy gray eyes would lock onto Saber's face and adopt a confused scowl, almost as though she wanted to be angry at her, but something was holding her back. The blonde would stalk off after the lessons muttering to herself.

"Quest…Poseidon…confusing… dirty rotten…got to make a plan."

Clarisse had kept her distance since the CTF match, though her venomous looks said she wanted payback. When Saber had headed to the forges to get some work in for the Hephaestus kids, she had overheard that Clarisse's electric spear had gotten destroyed in the ocean of crimson energy that Clarent had unleashed. So now the daughter of Ares was angry at her for that as well.

She had gone to bed the night before grumbling to herself about self-centered gods, sure that Poseidon had only claimed her to do his dirty work. _No way in hell, you uptight prick,_ she grumbled as she fell asleep.

That night, she'd had one hell of a nightmare.

 _She was running along the beach in a storm. In the distance, a city was sprawled behind her. It wasn't New York, she didn't recognize any of the buildings. About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like those wrestlers she'd seen on TV a few times. They were muscular, with thick beards and long hair, both clad in Greek style tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other green. The grappled with one another, kicking and headbutting, every time they did, lightning split the sky with a roar of thunder as the skies grew darker and the wind rose with a howl._

 _She had to stop them. Not quite sure why, but she knew she had to. She kept trying to summon the chains she had obtained by beating that golden-haired, red-eyed bastard from Detroit to separate them, but her powers weren't working. She settled for trying to run to them, but the wind kept blowing harder and harder, until she was running in place even with her absurd strength. Over the roar of the storm, she heard Blue yelling at Green._ Give it back! Give it back!

 _He sounded like a kindergartener fighting over a toy, which made her want to smack him upside the head._

 _The waves go bigger, crashing into the beach and spraying her with salt._

 _She yelled,_ Stop it! Stop fighting!

 _The ground shook as a laugh so deep and so evil it turned her blood to ice echoed from far beneath her._

Come little hero, _the voice crooned, making her skin crawl. Come down!_

 _The ground split beneath her feet, making a crevice that went straight to the darkest depths of the Underworld. She scrambled at the sand, but she couldn't get a grip. She fell, and darkness swallowed her._

Saber snapped up in bed, Bakuya and Kanshou in hand as she lashed out at nothing. She was drenched in sweat, plastering her thin nightshirt to her body. Outside, a storm was brewing. She sighed in relief as she realized she was still in cabin three, about as safe as she could get all things considered. The blades faded away as she pulled herself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Turning on the light, she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked terrible. She was pale, her face gaunt. She looked almost like she did when she first started training to push herself past her physical limits. There was a knock on her door.

She stumbled to the cabin entrance and leaned against it. "Who is it?" she croaked.

"Who do you think it is, Seaweed Brain?" came the annoyed response. _Annabeth?_

Saber pulled open the door and looked at the Daughter of Athena. "What do you want?" Saber croaked again, she sounded terrible.

Annabeth frown. "Are you alright? You sound terrible," she asked.

Saber scowled. "No, really? I didn't notice." She shook her head. "Never mind me, what do you want?"

Annabeth watched her for a moment before speaking. "Mr. D wants to talk to you."

"Is it serious, or can I just ignore him and catch another hour or so of sleep?"

"Serious. So, no napping. And…" Annabeth's face turned red as she looked down. "You might want to change your clothes."

Saber looked down and blushed. She was standing in her doorway dressed in a sweat-drenched white shirt that was pressed to her skin, leaving little to the imagination. She snapped the door shut and moved to the bathroom, quickly rinsing off and switching in to her normal clothing. She reopened the door.

"Sorry about that." She said with a blush. "Bad dreams and all that.

Annabeth cleared her throat and nodded, her own face bright red. "Right, totally understandable. Come on."

As soon as Saber stepped out, she noticed the clouds. The entire week she'd been there, the few rain clouds she had seen had moved around the camp. She had assumed some form of magic. But this…it was beyond huge. It almost looked as though a Category 6 hurricane was brewing.

Everyone seemed to be going about their normal morning business, though Saber could feel the tension in the air. Soon enough, the two girls reached the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in that stupid tiger-striped shirt of his with a Diet Coke in hand. Same as on her first day. Chiron sat in his fake wheelchair across from him. They seemed to be playing against wind spirits of some kind, since there were two sets of cards floating in the air.

"Well," said Mr. D without looking up from his cards. "If it isn't our little celebrity."

Saber sneered at him. Anyone who paid attention would notice she hated her old man, her desire to do nothing more than to sucker punch him into the next century.

"Come closer," said Mr. D. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."

Lightning flashed in the clouds and a rumble of thunder shook the windows. Saber scoffed. "I'm not sure if you've been paying attention, but I hate Poseidon. I'd like to introduce him to a few of the weapons I have stored up. So, try not to break your brain by understanding that."

Dionysus scowled. "If I had my way, I'd cause your molecules to erupt into flames. We'd sweep the ashes under the porch and be done with this headache. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at the accursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D"

"Yeah not to mention you tried that already, remember. Didn't work so well for you. Now if you were Hecate, maybe it would've." She grinned as the god's scowl deepened. "You don't have a very good memory, do you?"

Chiron cleared his throat before the god could retort.

Dionysus sighed and grabbed a playing card from the table, before pinning Saber with a glare. "I'm off to an emergency meeting. If you're still here when I return, I'll turn you into an Atlantic bottlenose and send you back into your father." The playing card is turned into what looked like a credit card or something similar. The god snapped his fingers and faded away, leaving nothing but the smell of fresh grapes in the air.

Chiron gave a tired smile and motioned to the chairs next to him. "Please, sit."

Annabeth sat, Saber opted for leaning against the support beam. Chiron watched her for a moment before shaking his head.

Chiron laid his cards down with a sigh, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.

"Tell me, Saber," he said. "Exactly how long have you known you were the daughter of Poseidon?"

Saber scoffed. "I knew I was more than human since day one. I figured out I was Poseidon's kid about five years ago. Was hunting a pack of telekhines that had been snatching precious metals for some kind of project, I never did figure out what. I had tracked them to a cave system along the coastline and while I was using my power over the Ocean against them, the leader or elder or whatever called me 'the Spawn of the Sea God.' I got curious so I asked a friend what that was supposed to mean. She told me it meant the bastard who abandoned my mother and me to the monsters was the King of the Ocean. I remember my mom used to pray to him, begging him for help every time we had to go on the run again."

She shrugged. "Figured that Barnacle Beard's brothers wouldn't be too happy, so I laid low, doing a bit of bounty hunting, earning a crap-ton of money along the way. I was on a job when Child Services found me. Didn't want to kill them so I roughed them up a bit and let them take me in. Wasn't expecting them to put me in Yancy Academy. It wasn't so bad, if it hadn't been a school for punks like Nancy."

Chiron nodded slowly. "And that attack you used during Capture the Flag? What was that?"

Saber smirked. "It's called a Noble Phantasm; a powerful ability usually meant to destroy or protect whatever its aimed at. All the weapons in my arsenal that have a history behind them, have a Noble Phantasm. Clarent belonged to Mordred, Daughter of Arturia Pendragon: The King of Knights, better known as King Arthur."

Annabeth cut her off. "Hold on…Mordred and King Arthur were women!?"

Saber laughed. "Yeah, surprised me too when I found out. Every time I gain a new named weapon, I get its history, and the history of the person who wielded it. Plus, it turns out that I'm descended from the Pendragon line on my mom's side, which makes it easier for me to use Clarent and Excalibur. As it turns out, Arturia pretended to be a guy for most of her life, so everyone thought that was what she was. Mordred was always wearing heavy armor and was quite the tom-boy, so everyone just assumed that she was a 'he'."

Chiron nodded thoughtfully. "And how many weapons do you possess?"

Saber shrugged. "Not sure. Lost count at around twenty thousand. Weapons with a Noble Phantasm, currently only a couple hundred. Heck the bow I used is the one that Paris of Troy used to shoot Achilles in the heel. But every time I get a new one, that's another powerhouse in my arsenal. Problem is I haven't practiced as much with Noble Phantasm attacks, which is why _**Clarent Blood Arthur**_ drained me so much. That's the only reason the hellhound was able to get to me."

Annabeth snapped. "So, you knew where you were supposed to go the entire time and didn't say anything? Why not?!"

Saber pinned the Daughter of Athena with a stormy, ocean-eyed glare. "Because I hate my father. Well, the gods in general, excluding a couple. He abandoned me and my mom to monsters." She snarled, making Annabeth flinch back. "Every night she would pray to him, begging him for help. Instead, he left her to be torn apart by monsters and let his daughter fight for her life day in and day out for seven years."

She scoffed. "And you people wonder why I never pay homage to the gods. The only ones I would ever respect is Hestia, Artemis and possibly Athena. I don't like Athena all that much for one massive reason, but I respect her. Artemis, I actually kinda sorta like. She's strong and treats her Hunters like family. And Hestia has to be the most mature and respectable of all the Olympians."

Chiron cleared his throat to get the conversation back on track. "Yes, well. It seems you're going to have to appease the very gods you hate." Saber's head snapped to him.

"Excuse me?" she asked incredulously, disgusted with the idea.

The ancient centaur nodded solemnly. "Yes, your quest. Now the details are a bit…confusing."

Saber frowned, thinking back to the weather and her dreams of the horse and eagle, then the one just a few minutes before about the men on the surf. Give it back…

"Zeus and Poseidon are fighting over something, aren't they?" Saber asked, fearing the answer. "Something belonging to Zeus was stolen, and he's blaming Poseidon."

Annabeth and Chiron exchanged surprised glances. "And how did you know that?" Chiron leaned forward.

Saber shrugged. "Uum…well the weather the past few months has been crazy, like the ocean and sky are at war with each other. Plus…a dryad friend of mine mentioned that Zeus was angry about something. Combined with the weird dreams I've been having, it's the only thing that makes sense. My guess is Zeus lost something important, and he thinks either Poseidon stole it, or I did for Poseidon…"

Chiron looked pleasantly surprised. "Full marks, Ms. Jackson. Yes, Zeus and Poseidon are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something very valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."

Saber's blood ran cold. "You're shitting me…Zeus's Master Bolt is missing, isn't it?"

Chiron nodded, causing Saber to curse excessively in Latin. "Yes. Zeus's master bolt, the original weapon is missing. A two-meter-spear of high-grade celestial bronze, capped at both ends with god-level explosive. It is the symbol of his power, from which all his lightning bolts were patterned from. The original was used during the Titan War, it is the bolt that sheered the top of Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne."

The blood drained from Saber's face. As much as she hated the gods, she was more than aware that their weapons were nothing to laugh at. The Master Bolt made hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers. _And in the wrong hands…_ Saber's breath caught in her chest as she thought of something and her legs gave way. She slid to the floor. "The first place to be hit by the war…it'll be New York, won't it?"

Chiron and Annabeth frowned in confusion, but both nodded. Saber couldn't stop the sob from coming up. Kalie…

Her face twisted into a scowl, her fear turning to rage. _I'm not losing anyone else. I won't do it for the gods, they can all go to Tartarus for all I care. I'm doing it for the civilians that'll be caught in the cross-fire._

She looked to the ancient centaur and pushed herself up, eyes blazing with determination. "I'm in. Just tell me where to go."

Chiron motioned with his hand for her to sit. "An explanation is in order first. Zeus believes that you are the one who stole his bolt –"

"He's insane. I've never been to Olympus. I mean, yeah I know where it is, but I try to avoid it as much as possible."

Chiron pinned her with a look that had her clamping her mouth shut. He continued. "during the winter solstice Zeus and Poseidon got into their usual back and forth trivial arguments. After the meeting, Zeus noticed that his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne right under his nose. He blamed Poseidon at once. He accused him of convincing a human hero to take it while they were all distracted. He just didn't know who. Now that Poseidon has claimed you as his daughter, he believes he has found his thief."

"Bullshit!" Saber snarled. "I'm a lot of things, I'll be the first to admit that, but one thing I'm not is a dishonorable Thief, let alone a pawn for my dead-beat god of a sperm-donor!"

Annabeth spoke up. "It doesn't matter to Zeus. He's been paranoid about his brother wanting to overthrow him for millennia, but now you come along after they made a sacred oath not to have anymore kids? That was the last straw."

"And that's somehow my fault? That justifies having monsters hunt me nonstop until I was strong enough to make them afraid of _me_?" Saber looked to the stormy skies, eyes burning with rage. "WELL FUCK YOU, ZEUS! I DIDN'T TAKE YOUR DAMNED BOLT, BUT I CAN GARUNTEE YOU, WHEN I FIND IT, I'LL SLAP YOU IN THE FACE WITH IT YOU TWO-BIT COWARDLY BASTARD!"

Lightning split the sky, but didn't strike. Breathing hard, she looked to Chiron and Annabeth to see them staring at her in horror. "Don't look at me like that," she snarled, making them jump. "That bastard wants to blame a kid just because she's connected to his ass of a brother, that makes him a damned coward. I'll find that damned bolt, then I'm going to shove it so far up Zeus's ass, he'll be tasting lighting for the next century."

Chiron sighed. "Well, that's certainly one way to put it. But yes, what better peace offering than the daughter of Poseidon returning Zeus's property."

"I'm not Poseidon's daughter. He lost the right to call me that when he left us to die." Saber snarled. She stood and pinned Chiron with a look. "Just tell me what to do. But know this: I'm not fighting for the gods. I'm fighting to protect all the civilians who'd suffer if there was a war. End of story, goodbye, the end."

 _ **Annabeth Chase**_

Annabeth watched the black-haired Knight as she stalked up to the attic to meet with the Oracle. She had been mostly silent while the girl had raged at Zeus over his paranoia, not knowing what she could've possibly said to calm her. Just standing near her had been difficult, the power flowing off the girl in corrosive waves of emotion. It almost felt as though she had been pushing her way through a hurricane of rage and hate, every wave of fury trying to drive her insane. She turned to Chiron, her teacher looking very tired as he too stared after the girl.

Without looking at her, he spoke. "My dear, I want you to go with her on her quest."

Annabeth froze, her heart rising. "What? You mean it?

Chiron nodded. "Yes. She will need someone to guide her. No doubt she knows a thing or two that will help you find the bolt, but you will need to make sure she doesn't turn against the gods any more than she already has. With her power, she would make a dangerous enemy to have, and I fear that there is more at work than even the gods can see."

He turned to her, eyes filled with exhaustion. "She needs to find her place in the world around her, but she is so set against the gods that she won't let herself become part of it. I can agree wholeheartedly that the Olympians can be self-centered, paranoid and prideful. But too much is at stake for her to turn her wrath toward the gods."

Chiron sighed. "I've only heard rumors of a warrior dressed in silver armor, wielding such a powerful blade. One of the few things that was always the same about the rumors, was her hatred for the gods. Now it seems that those rumors are true, but we have a chance to change the narrative. You and whoever else she chooses to go with her will need to keep her on the right path."

Annabeth nodded, her stormy eyes looing toward the ceiling. Saber should be done by now…I just hope I can do what Chiron asks.

 _ **Sera Jackson (Saber)**_

 _You shall go west, and face the god who has turned._

 _You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely retuned._

 _You shall be betrayed by the won who calls you a friend_

 _You shall fail to save what matters most, in the end_

The lines had been delivered by a mummy using illusions of familiar figures to convey her message. A man in purple robes with a seven-foot long katana, a giant with dark skin wearing a Greek war kilt and carrying a massive bone sword-axe weapon, a woman dressed in black robes with a crooked dagger in her hand, and that red eyed, golden haired bastard from Detroit, in that order.

When she had headed up to the attic to talk to the Oracle, she most definitely was not expecting a mummy. A book or scroll, maybe. Talking dead body? Nope, didn't see that one coming. Sure, she'd fought draugr before just outside Boston, but none of them had talked, just swung their ancient weapons at her pathetically before she had cut them in half.

 _Face the god who has turned? Betrayed by someone I call friend?_ Thought Saber as she descended the stairs. _What god turned from what? The rest of the gods? Who will betray me, and how will they do it? I fucking hate prophecies._ She grumbled. The only line that had really mattered to her was the last line, spoken by that bastard from Detroit. _You shall fail to save what matters most, in the end…what am I going to fail to save? Mom? Kalie? They're what matters most to me, not mentioning the fact that mom has been dead for seven years._ Saber groaned as she rubbed her face, she hated prophecies. They were confusing and frankly made her a bit paranoid every time she heard one, because every single one spoken to her mentioned a betrayal, and failing to save something important. Though at least that curly haired woman with the big black cat from Michigan tried to make light of the prophecy she had given her.

Saber shook her head as she returned to Chiron and Annabeth.

"Well?" he asked.

Saber sighed and told him what the Oracle had said, leaving out the illusions of the ancient warriors...or how she knew them.

She was shaken from her thoughts as Chiron spoke up. "Alright, Saber. The first thing you must know is that the Oracle's words often have double meaning, so dwelling on them will do nothing more then confuse and anger you. I understand that anger is a weapon you use often, but this isn't the time for that."

She scoffed. "Clarent's Noble Phantasm is fueled by my rage and hate. And I got plenty to go around. So most that'll happen is it'll make me stronger."

Chiron shook his head in exasperation even as Annabeth frowned at the Knight. From where Saber was standing, she seemed to be both excited and conflicted about something. She shrugged internally. She'd figure it out later, once they were on the road.

Chiron spoke up again. "Now, this line about the god in the West. If Zeus and Poseidon were to weaken each other in a war, who would stand to gain from such a conflict?"

Saber frowned. "Any number of gods could. Ares would grow stronger from the war, Hades might want to expand his kingdom, though I doubt it. It might not even be a god. Are there any Titans in the West?" she mused.

Chiron shook his head. "No, there are not. Hades is the only logical possibility. A Fury attacked you at Yancy Academy and a hellhound managed to enter the camp in order to attack you here, where you should be safest from those who would hunt Half-Bloods. Hades must have a spy here who summoned the hound from the Fields of Punishment. He must suspect that Poseidon would try to use you in order to clear his name of Zeus's accusations." The centaur ignored Saber's growl of disgust as he mentioned Poseidon using her.

"The Lord of the Dead will have hidden the bolt in the Underworld, where none of the gods may enter without permission from Hades himself. It's there where you will find the Master Bolt."

Saber was skeptical. She'd done a few jobs for the Lord of the Dead in the past, bounties on escaped souls and rogue servants, all of them paying very well in both drachma and jewels. He wasn't an overly ambitious god, even if he was a bit arrogant. Maybe he was being used by something older and much more powerful…or maybe they were barking up the wrong tree. At the moment, they didn't have a choice. All the evidence; circumstantial or otherwise; pointed to Hades, so that's where they were going.

She sighed in resignation, suddenly feeling drained. She hated the intricate games of the immortals. At least the monsters were straightforward about their goals. Most just wanted to kill you, while others just wanted to be left alone. She had a few contacts who might be able to help them.

"Well, I'll need to make a few stops before we hop on a plane and—" she was cut off by Annabeth and Chiron both crying out.

"NO!" they shouted at the same time, earning a raised eyebrow from the Knight.

"Are you insane?" Annabeth asked. "Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"

Saber nodded. "Yeah a bunch of times. It's not my favorite way to travel, but it certainly helps to get from one place to the next quickly."

Chiron spoke. "Think, Saber. You are the Daughter of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is the Lord of the Sky. You would be in His domain. You would never come down again alive."

Saber gaped. "What? So just because Mr. Barnacle Beard claimed me, suddenly I can't just hop on a plane and get to California?"

Both Annabeth and Chiron shook their heads. Saber's head met the table she was sitting at. She slammed her skull into the wood repeatedly, cursing all the while. By the time she was done, there was a massive bruise on her forehead. "I fucking hate the gods." She grumbled, earning a concerned look from both the Centaur and Half-Blood across from her. She sighed in resignation. "Fine. I'll travel overland then. I swear to God, if Zeus or any of those other immortal bastards show up to try and screw with my mission, I might just kill them. Consequences be damned."

She looked up to Chiron. "I take it I need a third member of my party?" At the centaur's nod, she sighed, turning her head to make it seem as though she wasn't interested, when she was in fact watching the two in her peripherals. "Well, might as well have somebody I can trust. I'll take Grover along. Who knows, maybe he'll learn to be less of a coward along the way," she said nonchalantly, watching Annabeth out of the corner of her eye. The blonde's face twisted into an angry snarl the instant the word 'coward' left her mouth. She continued. "But I suppose a coward's better than that idiot of a loose-cannon, Clarisse. Or the wimpy looking healer Lee Fletcher. And at least I know Grover pretty well, unlike those other two…" she shrugged in disinterest as she stood from her chair. Before she could leave the table, Annabeth shot to her feet.

"How dare you talk about Grover like that!?" she nearly screamed, fury lacing every word. "So, what if he's not the bravest person around nor the strongest, he's twice the person you could ever be! If not for him, I'd be dead, just like –" she cut herself off, breathing heavily in rage

Saber smiled to herself and turned toward the fuming blond. "Oh, I know he's a much better person than I am. After all, I'm just a mercenary with a bone to pick with the gods. I just wanted to see how you'd react. So, you're one of the two Half-Bloods that was with Thalia,"

Annabeth's angry snarl was swiftly replaced by a shocked expression that made Saber chuckle. "What? I'm a mercenary. Part of the job is paying attention to your surroundings. I've picked up bits and pieces while I've been here. You've been here for seven years. Grover was the one to bring you, along with two other half-bloods, one of whom didn't make it. Thalia died seven years ago, sacrificing herself to save her two friends and the satyr sent to guide them to safety. You being one of the two who survived makes sense."

She shrugged at Annabeth's shocked expression. "My question is: how do you keep fighting for the gods after they allowed your friend to be killed because her ass of a father and his brothers made an oath they couldn't keep?" Her sea-green eyes locked onto Annabeth's stormy gray ones, searching them for an response even as the blond gaped like a fish out of water as she grasped for an answer. Saber shook her head. "You sit on that one. I'm going to go get Grover. I suggest getting some more sleep. We leave as soon the sun is up."

With that, the black-haired Knight exited the Big House, heading to where Grover slept.

* * *

The next morning, Saber stood at the top of Half-Blood Hill. She was dressed in a black baseball cap, dark blue jeans with a red leather jacket over a dark red tank top, Clarent strapped to her back with her duffel bag over her shoulder. Her hand was pressed to Thalia's tree as she waited for Annabeth and Grover to join her. Ever since she had heard what had happened to the Daughter of Zeus, every time she got close to the tree, her blood boiled even as her heart broke. The girl had died defending her friends, just as her mother hand died defending her. All because the Big Three had made an oath they couldn't keep.

Saber sighed as she leaned her forehead against the cool bark of the tree. _Don't worry, Thalia,_ she thought. _I'll make sure Annabeth comes home safely, even if I have to die to make it so. I swear it on the River Styx._ She heard the rumble of thunder as the oath was sealed. She pulled back, praying that the fallen Hero had heard her. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Chiron's hoof steps approaching along with three others. Turning away from the tree, she spotted the centaur walking toward her with Grover, Annabeth and surprisingly, Luke in tow.

Annabeth was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, a pair of running shoes and her bright orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. Saber sneered at the shirt. She'd have the girl change shirts later. The girl had her curly blond hair tied into a ponytail, her bangs framing her face. The girl's magic baseball cap; which she had explained was a gift from her mother for her twelfth birthday; was tucked into her back pocket. She was carrying a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, for when she got bored on the trip. Her long bronze dagger, which Saber had accidentally stored up in her UBW, was strapped to her arm under her shirt sleeve. And she was blushing, her eyes flitting to Luke before quickly shooting away to look at anything else.

Grover was dressed in slightly more inconspicuous attire, her tiny horns covered by his favorite green Rasta-style cap, a black Nickelback t-shirt over long pants, his hooves covered by fake feet with his crutches to cover his odd gait. The only issue she had was the kill-me orange backpack, which no doubt had their food and other such supplies contained within. She'd have to buy him a new backpack while they were in New York.

Luke was dressed as he normally was, orange t-shirt and khaki pants over work boots. His Greek xiphos was strapped to his waist. Oddly enough, he was carrying a pair of running shoes. He approached her and smiled in a friendly way.

"Hey," he said as the small group joined her on the hill. "Just wanted to say good luck. I thought you might…um maybe you could use these." He held out the sneakers. They looked normal enough.

" _Maia!_ " he commanded sharply. Saber's eyes widened in awe as white bird wings sprouted out of the heels, fluttering slightly in the light breeze.

"No way!" she exclaimed, snatching the winged-shoes away from the Son of Hermes. "These are genuine flying shoes created by Hermes himself! I've never even seen a set before, much less held them!"

Luke rubbed his neck sheepishly at the girl's slight nerdgasm as she turned the shoes over in her hands. "Those served me pretty well when I was on my quest. Y'know, before you stole our thunder. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days…" his expression turned sad.

Saber snapped out of her nerd moment and frowned. Luke barely knew her, yet here he was giving her a magic item after coming to wish her good luck on the idiotic quest she had to go on.

If she had been anyone else, she would've blushed as hard as Annabeth was. She cleared her throat.

"Hey," she said. "Thanks Luke."

"Listen, Saber…" he looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just…kill some monsters for me, okay?"

Saber gave a wide grin as they shook hands. "Not a problem. Just keep things calm around here till we get back."

He grinned in return and nodded. "I'll do my best."

Luke patted Grover right between his horns, then gave Annabeth a good-bye hug, who looked ready to pass out then and there.

After Luke was gone, Saber turned to Annabeth with a smug grin. "You're hyperventilating."

"Am not."

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?" Saber's eyes twinkled with mirth.

"Oh… why do I want to go anywhere with you?" Annabeth snapped before down the opposite side of the hill, where Argus, the head of security with one hundred eyes covering his body, was waiting with a white van.

"I don't know, my dashing good looks?" Saber called down to the blond, causing the girl to scoff even as Grover slapped his hands over his mouth to keep from laughing.

Saber shook her head in amusement even as Chiron cleared his throat, drawing Saber's attention to him. "Luke meant well…but I do not believe that taking to the air would be wise…"

Saber's face twisted into a snarl. "Yeah? Well Zeus can put a sock in it. We're going to find his fucking lightning bolt. Best he doesn't kill us until AFTER we've brought it back to that paranoid jackass."

Lightning split the sky, thunder shaking the earth. Saber looked to the stormy clouds. "Oh, Fuck you! You want your damned bolt back, you just gonna have to let me do my job!" she turned to a shocked Chiron. "And by the way, I will be requiring payment after this job is done. I never do anything for free."

Chiron watched the black-haired girl for several quiet moments before he sighed and reached into one of his many satchels. "Your issues with the gods aside, there is something I need to give you before you go."

He pulled out what appeared to be a gleaming bronze click pen. He handed it her in an almost reverent fashion.

She stared at the pen for a moment before looking at the centaur as though he was crazy. "A pen… you want to give me a pen?" She looked back at the pen for a moment. "Gee. Thanks"

"This is a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for, nor where you even were. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."

Saber took the pen from the centaur and frowned as a mix of disgust and confusion running threw her. On the one hand, she wanted nothing to do with Poseidon. On the other…this was the first thing he had ever given her that wasn't meant to kill her. Ever. On a whim, she clicked the pen. In a split second, it went from a pen to a shimmering short-sword with a segmented bronze blade. The grip was covered with a soft leather. The crossguard was emblazoned with a trident.

With the ever-aggravating spike of pain lancing through her head, she felt the history of the blade flash through her mind as the blade inserted itself into her Unlimited Blade Works. From its creation by the Cyclops' under the sea on Poseidon's orders, to the Hesperides Zoë Nightshade, daughter of the Titan Atlas, owning it up to the day she gave it to Hercules and he carried it for a generous amount of time before he switched for a massive bone sword to better fit his massive frame. Through the many wars of the world, from being wielded by Kassandra, grand-daughter of the Spartan king, Leonidas, to being used in WW2 by a son of Poseidon name Christopher Mensk.

With a gasp, the flood of information stopped, causing her to drop the blade as she stumbled back, her back hitting Thalia's tree as she gasped for breath. _Anklusmos._ Riptide. That was the blade's name. And what a tragic history it possessed. She ignored Chiron's questions of her wellbeing as she pushed herself to her feet, wiping her eyes clear of the tears that had gathered in her eyes. She picked up the blade from the grass where it lay and pressed the trident on the crossguard, causing the blade to shrink back down into a pen, before she put it in her back pocket and walked down the hill, pulling her baseball cap down over her eyes to avoid looking at Grover or Annabeth. She didn't say goodbye.

* * *

Argus drove them out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt a bit odd to be on the highway again with Annabeth and Grover sitting on either side of her as though they were on a field trip rather than a potentially suicidal quest to keep the idiotic gods from destroying everything she cared about. After the twelfth Burger Kind, Saber spoke up.

"So far so good," she told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a monster in sight."

The blond gave Saber an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."

Saber scoffed. "Says you. In my line of work, anytime you're not getting bombarded by monsters ever five feet is a good day." Saber narrowed her sea-green eyes at Annabeth. "So…you mind telling me why you seem to hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you."

"Could've fooled me."

The blond folded up her cap in her lap. "Look…we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

"Who cares?" Saber snapped, causing Annabeth to jump in her seat. "We are not our parents. We want to be friends, then we'll be friends."

Annabeth shook her head. "It's not that simple. Poseidon has disrespected Athena time and time again. Hell, he took his girlfriend into her temple at Athens and –"

Saber cut her off, eyes glowing with rage. "Wrong. Poseidon raped a young woman in Athena's temple simply because he was lusting after her. Athena didn't care. She cursed the poor girl like it was her fault that happened to her, forcing her to suffer isolation and hatred because of something beyond her control."

Annabeth stared at her in shock. Grover and Argus were watching the exchange with wide eyes.

Saber ignored the Satyr and hundred eyed man. "What? You actually believed that bullshit version of history. The gods always adjust the details of their crimes to make it seem like they were justified in their actions. And you people wonder why I hate the gods. I've actually met Medusa, by the way. She runs a candy shop just outside the New Jersey. Nice lady, though lonely since she can't look anyone in the eye without turning them to stone. At least, not without those glasses of hers." She smirked at Annabeth's gaping expression.

"Not all monsters want to destroy everything. Medusa just wants her curse to end so she can actually interact with people." Saber smiled lightly as she leaned her head against the seat. "Makes terrible jokes, but her cookies are awesome."

She didn't say another word as they entered the city, even as Grover and Annabeth poked and prodded her for more answers. She insisted they stop at Central Park before they headed to the Bus Station, leaving no room for argument. Annabeth looked rather cross with her, but a single heated glare had her backing down as they entered the park. Within a few minutes, she spotted Kalie, her bright green pixie cut bobbing amongst the trees. The dryad spotted her as well and immediately bolted over. Saber caught her as the tree spirit leapt at her, hugging her tight as the dryad cried into her shoulder.

"When I didn't hear from you… I was afraid you were dead." Kalie whimpered into her shoulder. Saber kissed her temple and pulled her close.

"Oh, come on, you know me. I'm too stubborn to die." Saber said with a small smile as Kalie gave a tear choked chuckle, shaking her green-haired head as she did.

"Please don't do that again." She whimpered.

Saber stiffened and sighed, leading the dryad to a nearby bench. "Unfortunately, there's something I need to tell you. And I don't think you're going to like it."

She began to explain everything that had happened, from the Minotaur attack to Poseidon claiming her and the upcoming war between Zeus and Poseidon. Annabeth and Grover stood nearby, looking rather uncomfortable with the situation. By the time she got done, Kalie looked furious. Her leaf-green eyes snapped to the Daughter of Athena and she stomped over to the blond. Before Annabeth could say anything, the dryad slapped her across the face. Hard.

"If Sera dies because of you and your pathetic gods, I swear on the River Styx that you will pay with your life." She snarled at the stunned demigod. "I don't care about what you have to say. All the gods have ever done for that girl is cause her pain and suffering. If she pays with her life because she got sucked into your war due to paranoia and greed, you and every other person involved will pay."

Saber stared at her adopted sister in shock. The dryad continued. "Sera is the only family I've got. You'd better make sure she comes home safe."

Annabeth nodded numbly, rubbing her red cheek as she did. Kalie's eyes snapped to Grover, who flinched something fierce as she did. She stared the satyr for a moment before she turned and walked back to Saber. The black-haired girl blinked as the dryad pulled her into a tight hug.

"Promise me you'll come back safely?" Kalie said in her ear.

Saber nodded. "I promise. I'll make sure to give Old Barnacle Beard a piece of your mind along the way."

Kalie pulled back and nodded even as tear pricked her eyes. "Good. Now, go save the world."

Argus dropped them at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East side. Before he bought their tickets, Saber dragged Annabeth and Grover into the store next to the station to buy a slightly larger, dark blue backpack for Grover and a simple gray t-shirt with the Eiffel Tower on it for Annabeth, telling them that their current bag and shirt would draw in monsters who wanted easy kills. Any other day, she would've welcomed the battle. But since they were on a time table, she didn't have the patience.

While waiting for the bus, they started playing Hacky Sack with one of the apples in Grover's pack. Annabeth was awesome, bouncing the apple of her knees, elbows, chest, whatever. Saber wasn't too bad herself, but she made the mistake of bouncing the apple toward Grover's head. With one massive bite, the apple was gone - core and all. He tried to apologize, but neither of his female companions heard him, since both were too busy laughing to hear him.

Finally, the bus arrived. As they stood in line to board, Grover started sniffing the air. Thinking he was smelling food, she took a sniff as well and nearly gagged. The air was suddenly ripe with the smell of rotting flesh.

"Somethings coming." She said quietly as they boarded.

"What is?" Annabeth asked, her storm gray eyes narrowing.

"Not sure, but whatever it is, it's not alone."

They took seats at the back of the bus, stowing their bags just above them. Annabeth kept slapping her cap on her leg nervously. Saber felt the same way. She could tell something was about to happen, but she didn't know what. She hated that.

As the last of the passengers boarded the bus, Annabeth's hand clamped onto Saber's thigh. "Sera." She said, the fear in her voice shutting down any reprimand Saber might've given for the girl using her birth name. Saber looked toward the front of the bus

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She was wearing a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she was carrying a big paisley purse. As she tiled her head up, her black eyes glittered, and Saber's heart skipped a beat.

It was 'Mrs. Dodds'. Older, more withered, but definitely the same cruel face. Saber cursed under her breath as two more old ladies boarded just behind Dodds, one with a green hat, the other with a purple hat. They looked just like Dodds – same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. All three of the Furies had arrived.

They sat in the front row, just behind the driver. Their legs were crossed over the walkway, making an X. To anyone who didn't deal with getting attacked on a daily basis, it would've been casual. However, to Saber, Annabeth and Grover, the message was clear enough: No one leaves.

The bus pulled out of the station, and they headed through the slick streets of Manhattan.

"She didn't stay dead very long," Saber grumbled. _I can't summon Clarent on the bus, not enough room. Bakuya and Kanshou could work, but I'd have to be careful not to harm the civilians. Ugh, why'd she and her sisters have to show up HERE and NOW of all places?! This won't be an easy fight. Not when they know what I'm capable of. I had the element of surprise last time, I don't have that now. That and there was only one. Though in here, they don't have air superiority, so I might be able to kill them without too much trouble. And that's not even taking Annabeth and Grover into account._

"All three of them?" Grover whimpered. "Di immortals!"

"It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously doing the same as Saber and trying to think her way out. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"They don't open," Grover moaned.

"A back exit?" the blond suggested.

"There isn't one," said Saber with a grimace. Even if there was, it wouldn't help all that much. They were on Ninth Avenue, about to enter the Lincoln Tunnel.

"They won't attack with witnesses around." Grover said weakly, even as Saber shook her head in exasperation.

Annabeth shook her head. "Mortals don't have good eyes. Their brains only process what they see through the Mist."

Saber shook her head in return. "Not if the Mist is shredded from my Summoning."

Annabeth furrowed her brow. "What?"

"When I summon powerful named weapons like Clarent or Arondight, the Mist gets shredded to bits. Let's mortals see what they normally wouldn't until it repairs itself. So instead of seeing three old ladies trying to kill us with handbags, they'll see three demons trying to rip us to shreds with razor talons." Saber explained quickly. "But I'm not sure I can beat all three at once. Last time I face a Fury, there was only one and I caught her by surprise. Now there are three and they have a pretty good grasp of what I can do. I might have a bit of an advantage since we're on a bus rather than somewhere they could fly, but…"

She didn't need to finish. It was possible she could die in a fight against all three Furies, as with any other fight with Big-League Monsters. She had gotten lucky last time and had caught Dodds off guard. Not so much this time.

The bus hit the Lincoln Tunnel. The bus went darker than night until the lights in the aisle lit up. Without the sound of the rain, it was eerily quiet.

Dodds got up and said in a flat voice, "I need to use the restroom."

"So do I," said her sister.

"So do I," said her other sister.

They started down the aisle, black eyes gleaming with malice as they locked eyes with Saber.

"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Sera, take my hat."

"What?" Saber recoiled at the thought. She had an idea of where this was going.

"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and head up the aisle. Try to get past them. Maybe you can get to the front and get out of here!" said the blond in a harsh whisper.

Saber shook her head. "No way in Hell. I'm not leaving you two just to survive. We stick together. End of discussion. They want me, they'll have to fight for me."

Annabeth opened her mouth to argue, but caught the look in Saber's sea-green eyes. Determination, a desire to protect, a burning rage that felt almost like a raging wild fire. There would be no convincing Saber to abandon them. The blond sighed and nodded.

Saber turned to the Furies and gave a feral grin as they seemed to look between themselves. Once they got within five feet of the two demigods and satyr, they began to change. Their faces stayed the same but the rest of their bodies swiftly became the hag bodies of the Furies. Their handbags became fiery whips. They threw back their heads and gave identical hideous wails as their raised their whips even as Saber surged from her seat, blue motes of light coalescing into the Married Blades, Bakuya and Kanshou. She felt the familiar ripple of the Mist tearing in response to the weapons entering the world.

The passengers screamed in fear as their mortal eyes locked onto the demons as their fiery whips lashed out at the black-haired girl with the black-white blades. They quickly surged out of their seats and headed to the front of the bus as Saber engaged the Furies, sliding under them to put herself between the passengers and the demon ladies. Grover was pelting the Furies with tin cans while Annabeth moved inside the range of the whips to get in close with her dagger. Saber went up against 'Mrs. Dodds', her twin falchions trying to get to the demon. She ducked and dodged, avoiding the whip at all costs. Her tactic pushed her back toward the passengers, all of whom were shaking in terror as they watched a thirteen-year-old go up against a demon with a flaming whip. The bus driver was having a panic attack, the bus sliding in and out of traffic before heading down one of New Jersey's rural roads. The man must've hit the emergency brake because the bus wailed and spun hard, throwing Saber off balance as the bus slid to a stop against some trees.

Disaster struck as the whip lashed under her arms and struck Saber in the chest, flinging her back even as she felt her connection to her Unlimited Blade Works fall away. She gasped as her blades shattered and disintegrated, the Married Blades returning to her UBW even as her concentration was shattered. She winced and pushed herself to her feet, glaring at the grinning hag as her chest pulsed with pain. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the passengers staring in unadulterated fear as they watched her. There were three children; two girls and a boy, all no older than six; watching as well, though they didn't look as afraid as the others, but rather enchanted by the girl-warrior before them.

Saber stared for a moment before she scowled in defiance and turned back to the Fury, trying to call up her blades again.

Bad idea.

She screamed as red-hot pain lanced through her body and she fell to her knees. It felt just like it did when she had tried summoning Arondight all those years ago. Somehow, the Fury had cut her off from her massive arsenal of weapons. She growled as the Fury cackled.

"Seraphina Jackson. You have offended the gods. You shall die."

Saber snarled. She still had one weapon left. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out the pen and clicked it, letting Riptide spring to its full length as she pushed herself to her feet. She vaguely noticed that the blade was perfectly balanced and fit her hand perfectly. A weapon forged for the Child of the Sea God, she though numbly as she raised the blade.

"I'm not dying just yet, you ugly ass bitch," she snarled, her words coming out as a rumbling growl. The Fury hesitated at the sight of the blade. She didn't seem to like the weapon.

"Submit now, and you will not suffer eternal torment," Dodds snarled.

"Like I'd fall for that. You're Furies. Hades' chief tormentors. It's your favorite pastime" Saber said as she moved her free hand behind her back and motioned for the passengers to get out of the bus. She felt them moving as she surged forward, lunging at the Fury with a flurry of attacks, putting the demon on her back foot until she collided with her sisters.

Something in the back of her mind snapped like a bow string and on a whim, Saber brushed her thumb against the trident on the crossguard and nearly cheered as the sigil glowed the color of the sea. She twirled the blade and grinned as it came to rest in her hand as a seven-foot-long trident of shimmering ocean blue metal. The Fury gaped as Saber spun the blue trident in her hand and stabbed her through the throat, pulling her off the ground and pinning her to the side of the bus as she melted into bronze dust. Her sisters screamed in fury as they watched their sister fall. Saber yanked Trident-Riptide out of the wall and reached for the water outside the bus. With a clenched fist and the familiar pull in her gut, she sent a cannonball of solid water punching through the side of the bus and through the second Fury's stomach, before she turned the ball to a razor-sharp whip and tore the other in half with an ear-piercing wail of pain.

As they turned to dust, Saber fell to her knees, using the shaft of Trident-Riptide to keep herself from falling flat. Having her UBW cut off like that had been so sudden, she had put more power into the water than she had meant to. Annabeth rushed to her side even as Grover grabbed their bags from the overhead compartment. Pulling her to her feet, Annabeth led her out of the bus as the air became charged with electricity. They had barely moved a few meters before lightning stuck. On instinct, Saber raised a shield of water to absorb the blast. Of course, that weakened her further. The resulting explosion from the lightning igniting the gas in the bus tossed them several dozen meters, sending them flying into the trees. The last thing Saber saw was a tree branch rushing toward her face.

* * *

 _ ***Peeks head around the corner.***_ _ **Hello? *Yelps as readers throw books and chairs at head***_

 _ **So sorry for taking so long to update. My brain has been stuck on this chapter for forever and three months. I am attempting to increase the speed of my typing, however due to my brain working in hyperdrive, I tend to start new stories before I finish the one i'm currently working on, so don't be surprised if in the coming days, you see more stories pop up before chapters.**_

 _ **As always, thank you for reading, i hope you enjoyed. Reviews galore please!**_


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